Road Trip!

I've been a bit MIA, I know. I was on a weeklong cross-country road trip with my sister who moved to Portland. It was a ton of fun, but now I am so anxious to get home and get cooking! Although I did do a quite a bit of cooking before I left.  I made loads of road trip snacks.  I knew our trip would mean lots of greasy foods like burgers and fries, which we did have and thoroughly enjoyed, but also knew that we would feel much better if we had a pack of healthy snacks so as to prevent a panicked gas station snack stop that inevitably would have ended up with a bag of premade cheddar chex mix followed by what I like to call 'junk food stomach'.

I'm no stranger to road trips. Being in a family of five children, we did a lot of traveling by car. I think the idea of buying 7 plane tickets put my parents over the edge, so most trips were in the family Suburban and there was always a cooler in the back with sandwich fixings and snacks and homemade cookies. I think my mom couldn't stand the idea of stopping every time one of us was hungry and my dad couldn't stand the idea of going out for every meal. Growing up in the 'great lakes state', most of our trips involved us never being far from the lake so my mom always packed us a picnic. With 5 picky eaters she just let us make our own sandwiches and would pack several kids of meats, mayo, mustard, chips, sweets and even some candy. I think as a kid I always wished we could stop for the McDonald's happy meal or whatever that now makes me wince.

So with that on my mind I packed sandwiches for our first day.  There was no notable stops/cities on our first day anyway, so I figured starting out with a homemade lunch would be better.  I've made this one a few times now, and it always hits the spot.  With the skin off and the addition of yogurt to make it creamy, this really is a pretty healthy lunch.  The aioli is DELICIOUS and also great on other things. There was a bit leftover that Johnny used to make a quick salad dressing.  Just add some white wine vinegar and olive oil and put over salad.  The aioli also has an anchovy in it but please don't let that scare you.  In fact, Johnny couldn't believe when I told him that it was in there.  Did you know that almost all caesar salad dressing have it?  It certainly doesn't taste fishy, just adds another flavor dimension.  If you are a total wimp, feel free to leave out ;)  Oh and don't throw the rest of the can out when you just use one itty-bitty half of an anchovy.  I put the rest in a small jar and throw it in the freezer until I need them again.  As my mom would say, "It is a sin to waste", and I therefore cannot STAND to waste.  I do the same trick with chipotle chiles in adobo and tomato paste.  I mean how often do you really use a whole can of tomato paste? I digress...

I probably should have taken pictures of this sandwich before I left, along with all the snacks that I made, but I'm sure you can relate to the chaos that ensues right before going on vacation.  The laundry, packing, planning and for me grocery shopping and cooking was too much for me to stop to take pictures at each stage.  So I recreated the sandwich when I got back.  I'm not going to recreate everything, at least right now, so I thought I would share links to the rest. For your next road trip!

1. My friend Patty's granola.  Delicious and about a million ways to mix and match to make it how you like it. This time I used almonds and coconut and dried cherries. In the past I've done blueberries, pecans and vanilla.
2. Granola Bars.  Oh so healthy, from the Mayo Clinic Cookbook.
3. Spiced Pepitas.  I knew that all of those sweets would make me crave something salty. This hit the spot.
4. Trail Mix. There really is no recipe for this, just mix whatever you like best. I mixed 1 cup of almonds, 1 cup of walnuts and 1 cup of dried cranberries, then just scooped it by the 1/3 cupfuls into snack bags. Use whatever nuts you like, these are great to have on hand.  Hopefully this leaves you craving not only a sandwich but also a road trip! Loads of fun!

Trish's Tips: The original recipe calls for arugula, parsley and chives, but I just used what I had which was basil, parsley and spinach.  Don't make the mistake that I made (especially if this is to go) and forget to check the seasonings after you mixed in the chicken.  My sister and I were both wishing it was more salty because I seasoned the aioli but didn't check it when I added the chicken.  The original recipe calls for a whole-wheat tortilla, which I have used before and liked, but this time I had a whole loaf of bread I was trying to get rid of so used that instead.  Use what you like.

Chicken Sandwich with Spinach and Basil Aioli
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:
Aioli:
1/3 cup lightly packed spinach leaves
1/4 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley
8-10 basil leaves
1/2 anchovy fillet
1 small garlic clove
1/4 cup lowfat greek style plain yogurt
1 tsp white whine vinegar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
salt and freshly ground pepper
Sandwich:
1 - Bone in, skin on chicken breast (Between .75 & 1 lb)
1 TBL Olive Oil
salt and pepper
4 slices bread (I like Ezekial)
1/2 C spinach leaves

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350. Put chicken in pan and pour 1 TBL of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub to coat all sides.  Put in oven and roast for 35-40 minutes.  While chicken is roasting, make aioli.  Put garlic in mini food processor.  Pulse until it is minced.  Add anchovy and do the same.  Add the rest of ingredients and blend until mixture is smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

When chicken is done and cool enough to handle, remove skin (if desired) and shred with 2 forks.  Add enough aioli to moisten.  Taste for seasoning, you may need more salt and pepper.  You may have some leftover aioli.  Assemble sandwiches.  Put spinach on one side of bread, then spoon chicken mixture on top and top with other slice of bread.

If you are taking this to go: Put spinach on both sides of the bread so that the aioli doesn't absorb in the bread and make it soggy.  Make sure the chicken mixture is extra wet, it will absorb and be drier by the time you eat it.  Slice sandwich and wrap first in wax paper then in tinfoil.  Make sure to pack napkins!