Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini Sandwich

Since I blog about food regularly, you guys already know my love for cooking. But, its exactly opposite when I have to cook something just for myself. And such days, there are no leftovers either. 
What are your solitary meals? My lazy lunches are generally salads and grilled sandwiches.

Ingredients:
Boneless Chicken - 1 pound
Lemon/Lime Juice - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 2 big cloves
Black Pepper Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Unsalted Butter or Oil
Baguette or Thick Sliced Bread
Pesto Sauce
Red/Purple Onion
Bell Pepper/Capsicum
Tomato
Cheese Slices (optional)

How to make Grilled Chicken Pesto Sandwich:

• Preheat the oven at 375 degrees F. Grease a baking dish with oil or butter.  Crush the garlic cloves and add it to the dish. Place a skinless chicken breast on the baking dish. Sprinkle salt, fresh ground black pepper and chili powder. Add lemon juice and rub the chicken well with the seasonings. 
• Bake the chicken uncovered for about 10 minutes. Flip it and bake for another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Let the cooked chicken cool for about 5 minutes. Dice it into bite size pieces.
• You can use leftover chicken as well. Rotisserie chicken tastes good too.
• Thinly slice onion, bell pepper and tomato slices.

• Heat a grill pan for roasting the sandwich. 
• Cut the baguette in two halves. I used Ciabatta bread rolls. Apply pesto sauce to both halves or two bread slices generously, about 1 tbsp for each half. On one half, place onions, bell peppers and tomatoes. Top it with diced chicken. Place the other half of the bread and slightly press it.
• Top the chicken with some cheese slices if you like. Since pesto sauce has cheese in it, I skipped the cheese part.
• Apply some butter or oil to the bread and place it on the hot pan. Press the sandwich with a wooden spatula or place a small cast iron pan on the sandwich. Flip the sandwich after a minute and roast the other side too. Place the pan again on the sandwich and roast for few more seconds.

Cut the sandwich in 2 or 4 triangles and enjoy hot Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini with Potato Chips.