I’ll stop right here and admit I’m not much of a “salad guy.”  Yes, I know salads are a healthy way to maintain a good, balanced diet, but I just have a hard time getting excited about leafy vegetables coated in cold, slimy dressing.  If I’m in a hurry at lunch, salads can be difficult to handle, too.  You have to keep them in a bowl–meaning they take up space in your lunch bag or refrigerator at work, and they aren’t something you can scoop up with one hand and scarf down the way you can a sandwich or a hamburger.  Is there a salad that epitomizes taste and convenience. YES!

Enter the Chicken Caesar Wrap. This simple recipe is a good break for your daily diet.  It’s a chance to enjoy a tasty salad and some chicken without forking over a lot of cash or having to invest a lot of time and attention in preparing or eating–and it’s something you could whip up in batches, meaning that you can stick a leftover wrap in your lunch bag to take with you to work or class the next day.  Here’s how you make it:

Ingredients:

• 4-8 large tortillas or 6-10 small ones.
• Lettuce or spinach (any kind of lettuce will work; a head of iceberg lettuce is pretty cheap, but if you want a little more nutritional value, try going for a bag of lettuce mix or some spinach leaves).
• Caesar dressing (any dressing will work, technically, but Caesar is my favorite).
• 2-4 chicken breasts (depending on the number of wraps you’re preparing).  Plan on roughly 1/2 – 3/4 of a breast per wrap, if you like a lot of chicken.
• 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil.
• Crushed red pepper, turmeric, thyme, and any other seasonings you prefer (optional).

The Process:

1. Defrost chicken breasts, and slice them into bite-size pieces.
2. In a large skillet or saucepan, brown (or saute) your chicken-bits in a little olive oil (1-2 Tablespoons tops).  If it’s warm enough outside, you could also fire up the grill, and forgo the saucepan for a flame-kissed alternative.
3. Season your chicken as it cooks in the saucepan using thyme, crushed red pepper, turmeric, and any other seasonings you like.  Be sure to turn and stir your chicken-bits to ensure they are cooked evenly on all sides.
4. After about 8-10 minutes, slice one of the larger chicken-bits in half.  If it’s pink in the middle, let the chicken cook a little longer.  If it’s white through-and-through, pull it off the heat, and let it cool while you move on to the next step.
5. Place a tortilla on a plate or cutting board.  Place a small handful of lettuce in the center of the tortilla.
6. Drizzle a little dressing on the lettuce, mixing the lettuce with a fork as you do so.
7. Spoon as many chicken-bits as you like into the lettuce, and roll up the wrap.
   Note: There is an art to rolling a tortilla properly.  Start by rolling one side of the tortilla to the center.  Next, fold the ends of the tortilla in enough to block the ends of your wrap and prevent your food from falling out. Finally, finish rolling your tortilla.  If done properly, this will prevent the contents of your wrap from falling out as you eat it.
8. Repeat this process for the rest of your wraps.

If you work quickly, you can prepare several wraps in about 30 minutes.  This is one of our favorite recipes for those times when we don’t feel like investing a lot of energy into preparing a big supper and want to be sure we have leftovers we can take for lunch the next day.

Filed under: Recipes

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