(Leftover) Roast Chicken and Avocado Sandwich

One of the best reasons to roast a bird, in my opinion, is for the sake of the heavenly leftovers you'll have hanging out in your fridge for the better part of a week. Oh, the things you can do. There's a chicken and potato hash topped with a runny/crisp fried egg for Sunday brunch, a classic chicken salad to bring on a picnic during the warmer days ahead, a healthy chicken and quinoa stir fry, the list goes on, my friends. But my latest favorite way to pick a chicken clean, vulture-style, is with this deceptively simple chicken and avocado sandwich.

It all started at a little cafe called Caprices by Sophie in my Williamsburg neighborhood. Caprices was opened by a French woman with a lilting accent and a serious propensity for baking. From what I hear, she's done a lot of things in her life including law and finance, before picking up and moving to Brooklyn from Paris to open a cafe/bakery/lunch spot on North 6th Street. Huh? I know. But lucky us, because the woman can turn out a home-cooked meal like no other. She bakes a display case worth of sweets herself every single morning, along with the daily breads (including the divine little baguette pictured here, which, as far as I can tell, could give Balthazar a run for its money), one big pot of soup, and one quiche. When her goods run out (as they usually do by day's end), that's all she wrote. I've gotten into the dangerous, gluten-laden habit of stopping in on my way home from work and casually picking up one of everything that's left.

One night, she had thrown together a sandwich made of some leftover chicken breast she had laying around and half an avocado, drizzled with a vinaigrette of some sort. Doesn't sound exactly thrilling, I know, but the quality of the four simple ingredients (including the aforementioned excellent baguette) made it a knock-out. I changed it up slightly when I made my version, by substituting the vinaigrette for a thin swipe of Vegenaise. I also roasted my chicken with little nuggets of white truffle butter nestled securely between the skin and the flesh, so the whole affair turned out a bit fancier than it would normally be, but it would be just as good with the standard olive oil/lemon/thyme/coarse salt combo.

So there you have it--sandwich nirvana. xo

P.S. If you're in the market for a new roast chicken recipe, THIS is one of my go-tos, just in time for spring (i.e. ramps!).