Saturday, September 30, 2006

Chicken Wraps

This was supposed to be called Chicken and Spinach Salad Wrap, but spinach has been pretty scarce now for a while, with the E. coli scare going on. So I had to make do. Instead of spinach, I used lettuce and fresh parsley. A nice leaf lettuce would have been pretty, but for some reason, I only had boring old iceberg. So that's what I had to use. No one complained, lol! It tasted great! I really wish I could have had fresh spinach, though. It would have been even better!

I didn't cook the chicken the way they said to in the recipe. Instead, I cooked it on the cast iron griddle. I just didn't feel like dealing with dredging it in flour for some reason.

Oh, yeah, one last thing: I mashed some avocado and spread it on the tortilla before adding the other ingredients. You can only improve a recipe by adding avocado as far as I'm concerned!

I know the pictures are not quite in focus. I really am an amateur, learning as I go. It was shortly after taking these pictures that I learned how to use the macro feature on my camera. Duh. I really don't have any clue when it comes to photography, lol!

Thanks to Cuisine at Home April '06 issue for the recipe!




Chicken & Spinach Salad Wrap


Makes 4 wraps
Total time: 35 minutes


1/4 cup slivered almonds
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 teaspoon Cajun spice mix
salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons vegable oil
4 strips thick-sliced bacon, chopped
1/2 cup Braeburn apple, thinkly sliced
1/2 cup red onions, slivered
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (seemed like too much to me, so I used 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup apple jelly
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
6 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
4 flour tortillas, 8-10"

Toast
almonds in a skillet over medium-high heat, about 6 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Season chicken wtih Cajun spice and salt, then dredge in flour. Heat oil in the same skillet over medium high, then saute chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Remove from pan and slice lengthwise into 12 pieces. Wipe out the pan and return it to the burner.
Saute bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain bacon and pour off all but 1 tablepoon drippings.
Add apple and onions to the drippings; saute until softened, about 1 minutes.
Deglaze with vinegar; simmer until liquid is nearly evaporated.
Add the jelly and mustard; cook until jelly is melted and dressing has thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in almonds and bacon, season with salt, then toss dressing with spinach and goat cheese.
Heat tortillas according to package directions or over a gas burner.
Assemble wraps by arranging about a cup of salad on each tortilla; top with chicken. Roll tighly secure wit a toothpick, and serve immediately.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

No matter of the focus, you get the point across and they look fabulous! :) I'll be trying them on my family shortly - thanks for sharing!!

Laurie said...

Thanks for your sweet comment! You made my day! :)

Anonymous said...

these look divine! i'm adding them to our menu this week!

um, what's a macro feature? is that way my pictures TOTALLY suck, lol?

seriously, i love your blog. your recipes are such a huge help. i cook just about every night, which is a hard thing to do with four kids and a full time job, so having good recipes at hand is awesome!

Laurie said...

The macro feature is what helps you get nicer close up pictures. Until I started using it, I had to take pictures from a distance and then crop to close up, using photo editing software. Now I'm able to zoom right in and fill the frame with exactly what I want in the picture. For food and things that you want that kind of detail, the diffence is amazing!

Look in your camera's instruction manual under macro and see what it says. You have a digital rebel, right? I'm jealous. I want one! LOL!

Your pictures seem to be nice, though, from what I can tell!

I'm so impressed that you cook most every night! I don't know how you do it! You are so busy as it is!

Laurie said...

Oh yeah, the other thing that makes a huge difference for me is to use a tripod. All the pictures are in focus now, lol!

Brie said...

This looks great and I totally agree...avocado can only improve a recipe hee!