Giada's Chicken and Avocado Napoleons

I love sick days...not the sick part, but the part where I have time to try new recipes. Today, I tried a gem that I saw Giada de Laurentis make on her show. Chicken and Avocado Napoleons. The minute I saw it, I knew I had to have it. Puffed pastry, with chicken, spinach, avocado and a cayenne mayonnaise. I mixed it up just a bit because of what I had on hand, but I am very excited about this new light lunch! Are you ready for this???

First, I let my puffed pastry thaw out on the counter for about 45 minutes. I laid it out on wax paper so that it wouldn't stick to my counter/butcher block. I also took out 2 chicken breasts to take the chill off of them a bit and seasoned with coarse salt.

While I waited for my puffed pastry to thaw, I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil which I sprayed with all-natural extra virgin olive oil cooking spray. I also prepared second sheet of foil which I also sprayed to lay on top during baking. Once the puffed pastry was thawed, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and cut each sheet into 6 rectangles. Place the pastry on your baking sheet, cover with the second sheet of foil, greased side down), and then place a second baking sheet on top so that your pastry doesn't puff too high! Stick those in the over for 25 minutes. (I just forgot! Giada recommends pricking a bunch of holes in the pastry with the tines of a fork. Oh well...next time).

While the puffed pastry is baking, crank a pan up to medium high heat and get the chicken cooking. I would have loved to grill the chicken but I don't have a grill pan and it's too cold outside for me today!

While this cooked, I prepped the fixin's. I mixed low fat mayonnaise with cayenne pepper...add more if you like a little kick! Then, I sliced some avocado and red onion. Giada says to use baby spinach, but I had spring greens on hand. And that's it!

Let the chicken cool and the cut thin slices from the top. This guarantees you nice, juicy, thin pieces of chicken in every bite.

Time to start layering! Puffed pastry, chicken, lettuce, avocado, red onion, cayenne mayo, puffed pastry. This would have been plenty on its own, but if you want to make a true Napoleon, repeat!

Doesn't the cayenne mayo have a great color! So tasty.

This came out absolutely delicious! Sort of flaky and messy, but I love a messy meal! Maybe if I had pricked the pastry it would have been less flaky. Also, some bites felt dry and I kept hoping for a big taste of that spicy mayo. I could add more, but I'm not sure how my thighs would feel about that. Next time, prick the holes, have parchment paper on hand, and try spinach instead of greens.