Tuscan Chicken Sandwich

I come from a large family and my siblings are kind of scattered around.  I wish we could all live in the same area, or at least the same state!  But alas, those silly jobs just seem to pull us all to and fro.  I've been lucky enough to live within a few hours of one of my brothers, Tyler, twice now!  We were in Iowa for grad school and our last two years there, he attended a medical school in Iowa.  Then we moved to Texas and a few years later he got into a residency program that was, you guessed it, in Texas.  I loved having some family close enough that we could get together for holidays and occasional visits!  I adore him and his cute wife Margaret as well as their two sweet kids!  Not only did we enjoy the time we got to spend together but as a bonus benefit, Margaret is an awesome cook!  Whenever we'd get together, there was always sure to be yummy food involved.  She recently sent me the recipe for these Tuscan Chicken Sandwiches that she made for us one time.  I was so excited to have them again!  When she sent me the recipe I had just done my grocery shopping for the week.  I added it to the following week's menu though.  Then I realized that we had a big camping trip planned that weekend.  I couldn't stand to put this off any longer so I decided to make them ahead of time and took them with us on our camping trip.  Let me tell you, they were every bit of fabulous that I remembered them to be!  The chicken and peppers are flavored so perfectly and the mayo/pesto spread is to die for!  It was a far cry from a weenie roast, though there was some of that too.  I've been eager to post this recipe on my blog and share it with the world.  I hesitated a little though because the pictures I took were, well on our camp out.  Nothing amazing.  I feel that it would be selfish of me to keep this recipe from the world any longer though, so I've decided to post it anyway.  Paper plate and all!  Cook it in the crock pot ahead of time and take it camping or serve it with a fancy salad on glass plates.  Casual or fancy, it's a fantastic sandwich that you've got to try!

For the chicken:
1 1/4 lbs chicken breast
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced*
1/2 t salt

Combine all ingredients and place in crock pot.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours.  When cooked, remove from crock pot and shred chicken and red peppers.
*or you can use a jar of roasted red peppers

For the Mayo Spread:
1/4 c mayo
3 T pesto

In a small bowl, combine mayo and pesto.  Mix thoroughly.

For the Sandwiches:
shredded chicken and peppers (see above)
mayo spread (see above)
6 slices provolone cheese
6 tomato slices
6 ciabatta or other kind of rolls

Layer they bread, mayo, chicken, tomato, provolone cheese.  Make sure you add enough of the pesto sauce on the sandwich or it's just not as good!

Source:  Margaret Jolley