My friend Lisa made me something like this from a Donna Hay magazine for lunch last week and it was so yummy I had to make it again – only I could not find the recipe anywhere! So I had to make it up as I went and thankfully the chef type friend who helped eat my version said it worked! Pair this recipe with Lemon, Zucchini and Chicken Pasta in the same week, to use just one BBQ chicken to make two tasty and affordable meals. Apologies for the half-eaten sandwich in this photo – got a bit excited eating it before remembering to photograph it. Serves 6 people with 2 open sandwiches each and costs less than $12 to make.

• 1/2 BBQ chicken, shredded while warm (much easier than when cold from the fridge)
• 1 loaf of sourdough bread or similar
• 120g slivered almonds
• a couple of lugs of olive oil
• 1/2 bag baby spinach or 1 cup basil leaves roughly torn
• 1/2 tub spreadable cream cheese
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• zest of a whole lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice sourdough into at least 12 slices and spread cream cheese across one side of each, followed by a layer of baby spinach or basil. Divide shredded chicken evenly among each slice, placing it on top of cream cheese and greens.
2. In a frypan place slivered almonds, lemon zest and olive oil. Cook on low heat until almonds are brown, but not burnt. Remove from the heat and add lemon juice, stirring the mixture well.
3. Top open sandwiches with almond and lemon mixture. Season with slat and pepper. Serve 2 slices per person.