Pita Sandwich Recipe with Chicken, Hearts of Palm & Chimichurri Dressing

Sandwiches take me right back to my childhood. Growing up in Vancouver, sunny days were not as plentiful as we may have wished. When the sun broke through the clouds, Vancouverites streamed outdoors like ants headed towards the first summer picnic. On days when the sun glistened off the whitecaps of the Pacific Ocean, my mum pulled out the picnic gear and all of us set to work pulling together an oceanside feast. Sandwiches (chicken, salmon or turkey), hard-boiled eggs with packages of salt and pepper, sweet pickles, dill pickles, slices of Havarti cheese, carrot sticks and my mum’s chocolate chip cookies. It was the same every time. We would have been disappointed if it wasn’t. There is comfort in tradition.

If the day was a little stormy and cloudy, we would hunker down in the car to eat our picnic, watching the Great Blue Herons (or GBHs as we call them in my family) standing stoically against the waves and the wind. As soon as the weather cleared, my dad and I scrambled for our baseball gloves and ball, and played catch on the grassy patch separating the parking lot and beach while my mum watched us from her perch on a nearby log. Years later, when my husband and I drove across the country from New York to Utah, we broke up the long days in the car by playing catch at the rest stops after eating our Subway sandwiches. I was always reminded of those days at the beach with my parents.

While we never used pita bread for our beachside picnics when I was young, I think this sandwich would have fit nicely into the mix. The leftover rotisserie chicken from the previous night’s dinner was sitting in the fridge when it was time to make lunch. I chopped what was left of it and mixed the chicken with sliced hearts of palm (sold in cans in the vegetable aisle), chunks of cucumber and slightly spicy and garlicky Chimichurri dressing.

All I needed was a GBH sighting and one of my mum’s chocolate chip cookies to complete the scene.

(Reminder: Don’t forget to head to Whole Grain Penne with Cauliflower and Capers for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card.)

The recipe:

The dressing:
In the bowl of a food processor or a blender, combine pulse parsley, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and chile flakes. Pulse until combined, but not smooth.

With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil.

The sandwich:
In a medium bowl, stir together cucumber, hearts of palm and chicken.

Gently stir in the dressing.

Scoop the mixture into the four pita halves. Serve.

Other recipes with hearts of palm:
Kalyn’s Kitchen’s Heart of Palm & Avocado Salad with Lime, Green Onion & Cilantro
Foodiecrush’s Hearts of Palm & Tomato Salad
Sprout & Pea’s Honey Tangerine & Hearts of Palm Salad
We Heart Food’s Crab, Apple & Hearts of Palm Salad

Tagged as: chicken, chimichurri, cucumber, dressing, healthy, hearts of palm, pita, recipe, sandwich, whole wheat