Chicken Caesar Sub Sandwiches

So my little one is finally on the move - big time. My husband and I are both excited about this finally coming around, since it was delayed a bit, due to medical stuff. But it also has made dinner a tiny bit harder since we haven't finished baby proofing yet, and one of us isn't quite used to having to always keep stuff off the floor. So far the only sacrifice has been a piece of sheet music.... Thankfully replaceable, and with a chunk of it now in my child's stomach, thankfully non toxic. 

So heres a fun recipe that twists up the usual chicken caesar salad for something that will help you get in and out of the kitchen quickly incase you have a little mover too. Or anyone that waits until your back is turned, to go after computer cords, books, the cat, and anything else left laying around. Yes my little one has managed to get the cat's tail a few times much to my cat's surprise. We have a great pet. A more skittish cat would have not been so patient or kind to our littlest one. 

I eat salads all the time. One my favorites is caesar salad but getting the entire family excited about salad for dinner is a bit harder than pizza or a burger. So when I saw this recipe for caesar chicken thighs I knew exactly how to make this a kid friendly, dare I say it, husband friendly dinner..... turn it into a sub sandwich. A sandwich can easily be halved for little hands. It can thankfully be eaten one handed although a bit messy to help the parent feeding the baby in the high chair. Can I get an amen from that one? It's portable so take it with on the way to a baseball game, preseason football game, take with you on that last summer picnic or road trip before school starts. AND this fun new dinner idea only takes 2-3 minutes of prep time, and 35-40 minutes of hands off cooking. Another win for an easy dinner. Pair this with chips, tater tots, or cold watermelon, and crispy crunchy veggies for a healthy dinner.  P.S. If you make extras they make a fabulous lunchtime sandwiches too see the note at the end.

Chicken Caesar Sub Sandwiches

Recipe serves 4

Recipe adapted from I Wash You Dry

Ingredients:

4 chicken boneless skinless thighs (or sub breast halves for a leaner version)
1/4 cup of flour
1/2 tsp dry Italian seasoning, your fav blend
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 cup of store bought caesar salad dressing + a little extra for the sandwiches
1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese + super thin slices for the sandwiches
4 wheat or white soft sub rolls
2 roma tomatoes or one large one, sliced thinly 
1-2 pieces of kale or romaine for each sandwich

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375. 
2. In a small casserole dish, spray some nonstick spray or use some butter to lightly coat

3. Set up a dredging station. In one bowl put the dressing. In another bowl put the flour and seasonings.  
4. Use tongs or a fork to dunk the chicken, one piece at a time into the flour mixture, turning it over once. Then dunk it into the salad dressing turning it over once until completely coated. Put the coated chicken into the prepped casserole dish. Repeat three more times.
5. Sprinkle the cheese over the coated chicken pieces. 
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cheese should be golden brown and chicken should be cooked all the way through. 

7. Assemble the sub sandwiches. Each sub gets one piece of chicken, some romaine or kale, some tomato pieces, some parmesan cheese and little extra salad dressing or mayo. 

Save any extras for the next day. It tasted great on hardy whole grain sandwich bread. See picture below on the bottom right.