Californian Grilled Sandwich with Purple Potato Salad and Wax Bean Salad

This is a great grilled sandwich!

   
     Grilled sandwiches like the Californian were very popular 25 to 30 years ago.  People associated California food with health food back then.
     I worked in a French bakery and pastry shop on one of my first culinary jobs.  One of our most popular baguette sandwiches had the same ingredients as this Californian grilled sandwich.  After that bakery job, it seemed like every restaurant that I worked in for the next five years offered either a sandwich or omelette that had the same basic Californian ingredients.
     To tell you the truth, I lived in California and hardly anybody there eats stuff like what is in this sandwich!  Mexican food is healthy and it is more popular than any other cuisine in California.  The non traditional wine country California cuisine that was popular 30 years ago is also nearly a thing of the past.  Customers get bored with looking at a list of ingredients as an entree name.  The wine country food was creative, but it had no regard for classic cooking techniques.  The wine country food for the most part was hit or miss food that did not appeal to the customers that preferred tried and true european classic cuisine.
     A similar problem occurred with fusion cuisine.  Chefs that learned classic French cuisine and also took the time to learn all of the asian cuisines fared much better.  Those who half hazardly mixed eastern and western ingredients together and then just hoped for the best, did not do so well and their food experiments turned people away from fusion cuisine.  
     Because the combination of ingredients for any entree that has the word Californian in the name remained a constant standard anywhere in America, the word Californian became synonymous with avocado, sprouts, tomato, cheddar or jack cheese and a light meat like chicken or turkey.  Ask for a Californian omelette or sandwich anywhere in America and you will get the basic flavors of California health cuisine from over 30 years ago.  The Californian combination of ingredients is here to stay and it is now a standardized recipe, just like a BLT.  Everybody in America knows what a BLT is and everybody in American knows what ingredients are associated with the word Californian!
     The Californian list of ingredients makes for a great grilled sandwich!
  
     Purple Potato Salad Recipe:
     Boil 1 large handful of Peruvian purple potatoes, till they are fully cooked but not mushy.
     Cool the potatoes under cold running water.
     Peel the potatoes.  (Purple potatoes are thin skin potatoes.  After they are cooked, it is easy to peel them by dragging the back of a paring knife over the skin.  The thin skin is easily scraped off.)
     Cut the potatoes into large diced cube shaped pieces.
     Place the diced potatoes in a mixing bowl.
     Add l/2 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard.
     Add 1 teaspoon of sweet pickle relish.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of chopped green onion.
     Add 1 tablespoon of chopped bermuda onion.
     Add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped celery.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add just enough mayonnaise to bind the ingredients together.
     Mix the ingredients together.
     Chill the purple potato salad in a refrigerator.
  
     Wax Bean Salad Recipe:
     Steam or boil 1 handful of wax beans, till they are cooked al dente.
     Cool the wax beans under cold running water.
     Trim the ends off of the wax beans.
     Slice the beans into bite size pieces.
     Place the wax bean pieces into a mixing bowl.
     Add 2 tablespoons of small thin red bell pepper strips.
     Add 2 tablespoons of small sliced bermuda onion strips.
     Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of red wine vinegar.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 1 pinch of oregano.
     Toss the ingredients together.
     Chill the wax bean salad before serving.


     Californian Grilled Sandwich Californian Grilled Sandwich:
     Butterfly cut a 4 to 5 ounce chicken breast, so it is evenly thin and flat.  (This will make the chicken breast cook evenly.)
     Heat a saute pan over medium heat.
     Add 1 small splash of blended olive oil.
     Add 1 pat of unsalted butter.
     Add the butterflied chicken breast.
     Season the chicken with sea salt and black pepper.
     Saute the chicken breast on both sides, till it becomes fully cooked.
     Slice the chicken on a 45 degree angle into thin strips.
     Brush one side of two pieces of bread with melted unsalted butter.  (Rye or whole wheat are good for this sandwich, but sourdough bread is a better choice.)
     Place a few thin slices of Monterey Jack Cheese on the bread.
     Heat a griddle or large saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Set the bread slices with the cheese on the hot griddle or pan.
     Place the chicken strips on one of the slices of bread.
     Place a few thin slices of tomato on the chicken.
     Set a few thin slices of avocado on the tomato slices.
     Place a layer broccoli sprouts on the other piece of bread.  (Alfalfa sprouts are good on this sandwich too.)
     When the bread is toasted and the cheese has melted, set the broccoli sprout half of the sandwich on top of the other half of the sandwich.
     Place the sandwich on a cutting board.
     Cut the sandwich in half and set the two halves on a plate.
     Use a ring mold to place a portion of the purple potato salad on the plate.
     Place a portion of the wax bean salad on the plate.
     Garnish with a dill pickle spear.

     The flavor of a Californian sandwich is garden fresh!  The purple potato salad adds pretty color to this plate.  Wax bean salad is a classic picnic style salad accompaniment.  If you find that a plain grilled cheese sandwich is getting to be a bit boring, this Californian grilled sandwich will liven things up a bit!  Yummy!  ...  Shawna