I was inspired by Donna Hay when I came up with this simple and fast recipe.

While flipping through a handful of Dutch channels, I ran into one of her shows where she whipped up a different, more simplified version. The woman had an ocean view from her kitchen that many of us would kill for. Well, I wouldn’t kill for it… just say that I was envious.

But anyway, I could almost taste the smokiness of the slightly spicy paprika chicken, followed by the freshness of the lemon dazzling your tongue. Killer combination.

And then it dawned on me…. now what if I took all this and upped the flavor even more by melting some rich, velvety Brie on top?

Adding cheese is good, right? Cheese is always good.

Ingredients:
 

Sandwich:

multi-grain bread or buns
1 large chicken breast (cut in half)
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp Sichuan pepper (also knows as Szechuan)
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 thin slices Brie
sprinkling salt
salad leaves

 
Mayo:

5 tbsp Hellmann’s
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried parsley

 
Directions:

 
While Donna went with dried chili flakes, I opted for Sichuan peppers. Why? Because they’re not just spicy but they’re also incredibly flavorful. Technically they’re not even peppers, like pink peppercorns, they are berries. The Sichuan berries have a lemony overtone making them irresistible to me in combination with chicken.
 

Heat a skillet and roast the Sichuan peppers for a minute over high heat. I used my mortar then.

Lightly crush the peppers.

Add them to 4 tbsp oil and mix them in with the smoked paprika and garlic powder followed by the lemon juice.

Slice the chicken breasts lengthwise rather than pounding them into submission with a meat hammer.

 
See, I can be gentle!
 

Make sure each chicken gets some of the marinade on both sides and let them marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.

Simple lemon mayonnaise. Mix Hellmann’s with lemon and parsley. That’s it.

Oh yeah, and stir.

The Bread. I bought one large bread, you can use buns as well.

Thinly slice the brie. Feel to remove the rind. I don’t, to me this constitutes a grave sin.

 
We’ve had some really bad weather, so I used my stove top grill. I preheated it for 10 minutes. You can do this on your BBQ as well and it will be even better.
 

Season the chicken with a little salt and grill them for about 3 to 4 minutes, depending on their thickness. Flip them over, place a slice of Brie on top and cover it with a lid or, as I do, a cast iron skillet so the Brie can melt.

Slice the bread and don’t be like me; don’t slaughter the poor bread. I suck at opening up a bread. Spread the lemon mayo all over the bottom half.

You can use whatever salad leaves you feel drawn to. Arugula is nice and peppery, it works.

Top the bread with the salad leaves, and be generous.

The Brie should have melted by now.

Yup, it’s all soft, creamy and gooey. Carefully place the chicken on top of the salad leaves.

Grab yourself a glass of wine and you’re all set.

This makes for the perfect lunch, but throw in a potato salad and maybe some extra greens on the side, and you have a wonderful dinner as well.