I probably should plan more “cook once, serve twice” meals, but I just never think of it. Why, I have no idea. But sometimes I stumble into it. Last week I made grilled chicken breasts, marinated in a yogurt-and-spice sauce. By the time I got the seasonings to what I wanted, there was an awful lot of marinade. I decided to prepare twice the amount of chicken and then find some use for the leftovers. And, wow, what a “leftover” meal this became!
First, back to my ravings about my trip to Trader Joe’s. I mentioned that the tandoori naan was excellent, and I meant it. For lunch one day I heated the naan, served with the marinated chicken breasts, drizzled with the yogurt sauce, and topped with chopped tomatoes. It would have been even better (for me) if I had thought to sprinkle it all with chopped cilantro but, in any case, this was one amazing lunch.
I don’t like to waste anything. Heating a big ol' oven to 400F in order to cook 3 naan is crazy so, instead, I heated the outdoor (propane) grill, first placing a baking stone on the grill surface. It took about 8 minutes of preheating, and I cooked the naan for 1½ minutes on one side, ½ minute on the other. Yes, one of these had little charred spot in the center, so I will cook a bit less next time.
I wanted to make sandwiches with the sliced marinated chicken and toppings, but Jack talked me out of it. And he was right—the sauce and tomatoes would have made the naan soggy while, the way we ate this, the bread stayed nice and crispy on the outside.
It was wonderful. The chicken was very moist and tender and just as flavorful as the day I grilled it. The yogurt sauce seemed to have become a bit more garlic-y as it sat for a few days in the refrigerator, and as I mentioned before, I would only change this by adding cilantro and serving with wedges of lime to squeeze over the chicken. YUM.
