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Grilled Chicken Bacon Swiss Sandwich, uses cottage bacon and is built on Lithuanian rye. It has deep layers of complex flavors: the aromatics of the old-world bread, the tang of the Swiss, the brown sugar tones in the bacon, and the sharpness of the mustard, all brought together by a juicy chicken breast. This is anything but an everyday sandwich; it’s a standout.

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Makes 2 sandwiches

This recipe is the lovechild of the leftovers from two recent meals: Eggs Benedict and Fresh Garlic Swiss-Parmesan Pasta. When I was shopping for the chicken for the pasta dish, I found a 2½-lb package of breasts on sale. I decided to go ahead and grill them all, and make use of the extras over the next couple of days. I had some Lithuanian rye leftover from the (unusual) Benedict. Lithuanian rye is so flavorful, that it’s able to play a virtuosic duet with the sweet smokiness of the bacon. I knew right there that I had the makings of a great sandwich. Of course you could use a different rye, and maybe you could stray from rye, but I don’t think you’d  find the sandwich particularly satisfying on white bread. The Benedict also left me with some leftover Swiss cheese. I love the combination of Swiss and mustard, and I also love the combination of dark rye and mustard. And there you have it.

Chicken and bacon go together in a special way.

Ingredients

4 slices dark rye bread
1 cold, grilled chicken breast
2 slices cold, cooked cottage bacon
½ cup shredded Swiss cheese
Yellow mustard

Directions

1. Pop 4 slices of bread into the toaster. Slice the chicken breast in half width-wise, creating two cutlets. Place them on a microwave-safe plate. Top each with a slice of bacon. Top the bacon with ¼-cup (more or less, to taste) Swiss cheese. Position the plate in the microwave and nuke at 50% power for 1½ minutes, or until the cheese melts. 2. Meanwhile, squeeze some mustard onto two of the toast slices. 3. Once the cheesy breasts come out of the reactor, slide them onto the mustardy toasts. Probably, some of the cheese melted onto the plate while it was in the microwave. Use a butter knife to scrape that gooey goodness onto your cheesy breasts. Top with remaining toast slices, et voila.

Grilled Chicken Bacon Swiss Sandwich

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