BBQ Chicken Sliders

Fourth of July in a pandemic. No Cohen Stadium. No fireworks from the bleachers. Instead: fireworks from the backyard, the neighborhood fireworks that go off in every direction, illegal and beautiful and exactly the kind of American celebration that happens when the official celebration is canceled and the people decide to celebrate anyway. The desert sky lit up with homemade patriotism, and we sat in our lawn chairs and watched, and Camila didn't flinch (she is eight in October and she has graduated from fear to wonder), and Diego calculated the trajectory of each firework (he estimated altitude, burn time, and descent rate, because Diego cannot watch fireworks without turning them into a physics problem), and Sofia photographed them for Instagram, and Isabella read by the light of the explosions (which is the most Isabella thing I can imagine), and Luis Jr. watched with the quiet of a man who has seen real explosions and finds the recreational kind comforting.

I made elotes. The tradition. The Fourth of July corn that is grilled and slathered and eaten messily in the backyard with sticky hands and chile-stained lips. The elotes are the constant. The pandemic can cancel everything — the parks, the stadiums, the gatherings — but it cannot cancel elotes. Elotes are constitutional. Elotes are protected by the same amendment that protects the right to bear arms, except the arms in question are holding corn and the weapon is cotija cheese and the war is against blandness.

The bakery's pandemic numbers are stabilizing. June revenue: approximately six thousand, which annualizes to seventy-two thousand, which is better than the sixty-five I projected in April. The meal kits are the engine: forty-five a week now, at an average price of fifteen dollars, contributing approximately twenty-seven hundred per month. Sofia's subscriptions contribute another fifteen hundred. The takeout counter adds the rest. We are surviving. We are more than surviving. We are adapting, which is the word that Darwin used and that Rosa would have used if she had known Darwin's word, because Rosa adapted every day of her life without knowing there was a word for it.

Camila asked for a cat. Not a dog. A cat. The request has shifted species again. The cat request is strategic — she has calculated (or intuited, which for Camila is the same as calculated) that the cat barrier is lower than the dog barrier, because cats are smaller and quieter and don't need walking, and the not-needing-walking is the argument she presented at dinner with the rhetorical skill of a Supreme Court advocate. I said: "We'll see." She smiled the we'll-see smile. The fortress is crumbling. The pet is inevitable. The only question is species and timing.

The elotes are always the anchor, but no Fourth of July backyard spread survives on corn alone — especially not one feeding a physicist, a photographer, a reader-by-firework-light, and a man who finds comfort in the recreational kind of explosion. These BBQ Chicken Sliders became the other constant that night: pull-apart, saucy, sticky in the best way, the kind of thing you can pile onto a tray and set on the folding table and watch disappear before the next round of illegal fireworks goes off two streets over. If elotes are constitutional, these sliders are the amendment right behind them.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 6 (2 sliders per person)

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
3/4 cup BBQ sauce, plus more for serving
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and black pepper, to taste
12 slider buns or Hawaiian rolls
1 1/2 cups coleslaw (store-bought or homemade)
6 slices pepper jack or cheddar cheese (optional)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon honey

Instructions

Season the chicken. Pat chicken dry and season both sides with garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
Cook the chicken. Heat a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat with a drizzle of oil. Cook chicken 6—8 minutes per side, or until cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Sauce and shred. Transfer cooked chicken to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Shred with two forks, then toss in a bowl with 3/4 cup BBQ sauce until evenly coated.
Prep the buns. Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice slider buns in half horizontally as a sheet. Mix melted butter and honey, then brush over the cut sides of the top buns. Place on a baking sheet and toast 3—4 minutes until lightly golden.
Build the sliders. Spoon a generous portion of BBQ chicken onto each bottom bun. Top with a slice of cheese if using, then a spoonful of coleslaw. Place top buns on and press gently.
Serve. Arrange on a platter with extra BBQ sauce on the side. Serve immediately while warm — ideally next to a pile of elotes and a good view of the sky.

Nutrition (per serving)

BBQ Chicken Sliders — The Backyard Staple That Showed Up When the Stadium Didn’t