Peanut Butter, Chicken and Basil Sandwich -- The Hands That Built $19,200

Sarah's Table, one month old. June. The first full month of the storefront. The numbers: total revenue for June: $19,200. NINETEEN THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. In one month. From a 600-square-foot restaurant with six stools and three employees and a cast iron skillet on the wall. $19,200. The math is no longer walking or running or flying. The math is orbiting. The math is in SPACE. The monthly dental salary was $3,200. Sarah's Table's first full month was six times that. SIX TIMES. The brave thing didn't just work. The brave thing is a rocket.

The restaurant is becoming a neighborhood fixture. Regulars are forming. Mrs. Henderson: Tuesday, stool three, cornbread and dumplings. A man named Gerald: Wednesday, stool one, pulled pork plate, reads the newspaper, tips 30%. A young couple (twenties, matching tattoos, vegan except for my cornbread, which they make an exception for because "it's not regular food, it's spiritual food"): Friday, stools five and six, cornbread and a side salad. The regulars. The people who return. The return is the compliment. The return is the relationship. The return is the table extending into habit, into routine, into the daily life of strangers who aren't strangers anymore because they eat at my counter and I know their orders and they know Earline's name and the knowing is the community and the community is the whole point.

Chloe's summer: she's working at the restaurant. Not officially (she's eleven — child labor laws exist and I respect them). But she comes three days a week and she helps: prep, photography, quality control on the Bites. Her role is: unpaid consultant, Chief Photo Officer, and the person who makes sure the Bites are consistent ("this one has too much cayenne" — the QA is rigorous). She's eleven and she's in a restaurant kitchen three days a week and the kitchen is teaching her things that school can't: discipline, speed, the ability to work when you're tired, the sound of a customer closing their eyes.

I made the month-end celebration meal: Earline's fried chicken for the team. Wanda, Patricia, me. Three women at the counter after close, eating fried chicken with our hands, the same hands that cooked for 600+ customers this month. The same hands. Three pairs. The team that started in a rented kitchen and is now in a storefront. The team that took a napkin and turned it into $19,200. The team. The table. The women. The food. All of it. Real. All of it. Right.

After we finished the fried chicken and the numbers were written on the whiteboard and Wanda had cried a little and Patricia had laughed a lot, I started thinking about what I’d cook for the three of us the next time — something we could hold in our hands, something as bold and unexpected as the month we’d just had. This Peanut Butter, Chicken and Basil Sandwich is exactly that: familiar ingredients doing something surprising together, which is really just a description of us. Three women, a cast iron skillet, and a number that belongs in orbit.

Peanut Butter, Chicken and Basil Sandwich

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each), pounded to even thickness
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4 slices sturdy sandwich bread or ciabatta rolls, toasted
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 4 thin slices red onion
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced cucumber

Instructions

1. Season the chicken. Pat chicken breasts dry and season both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
2. Cook the chicken. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 6–7 minutes per side, until cooked through and golden. Rest 5 minutes, then slice thin.
3. Make the peanut sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, and red pepper flakes until smooth. If the sauce is too thick, thin with a teaspoon of warm water.
4. Toast the bread. Toast bread slices or ciabatta rolls until golden and firm enough to hold the sandwich.
5. Assemble. Spread peanut sauce generously on both cut sides of the bread. Layer sliced chicken on the bottom half, then top with fresh basil leaves, red onion slices, and cucumber.
6. Serve. Press the top slice of bread on firmly, cut in half, and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 42g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 680mg