I'm So Lazy...New Year, Time to Bring This Back

My very good friend Byn made a commitment to her friends in internet-land to put up 365 clean eating recipes this year. I love you Byn, and I'm going to steal all of them; but, I am committing to 52 recipes. That's right folks, the Friday recipe is back (or will be, on Friday).

So, with this renewed enthusiasm, here's a bonus recipe for this week.

Lunch Chicken Wraps

1 lb chicken breast meat (I prefer home raised, or organic)
dash of salt and pepper seasoning of choice (depending on the day I like lemon pepper, Montreal, ranch dressing mix)
1 tbsp of oil (your choice: canola, vegetable, butter, EVOO)
Several leaves of your choice of lettuce (if you REALLY want that icky iceberg stuff, well oooooooookkkkkk, me, I like Bibb, or any red lettuce)
Baby spinach leaves
3 or 4 shredded carrots
1 bell pepper (Green, Red, Yellow, Orange, Purple, White your choice)
4 whole wheat burrito sized tortillas (or, you know, any wrap or pita you like)
Condiment of choice


pre-Step 1. Flatten your chicken boobs. Really. Use a pan, a meat mallet, a rolling pin, a clean shoe (make sure that your chicken is INSIDE A PLASTIC BAG if you go this far). Evening out the thickness makes the chicken cook evenly, and seriously decreasing the thickness helps it cook faster. Plus, you can take out your frustrations on the meat, and no one gets hurt or goes to jail.

1. Sprinkle your chicken with your seasoning. If you just do it on the side facing you, when you plop it into the pan (I use tongs, or a fork), then you can sprinkle the bottom side (which is now conveniently on top).

2. Heat your skillet, and add your choice of pan lubricant. Really, it's up to you. But something is needed, because chicken that is stuck is not that fun.

3. When your pan and it's lubricant are hot enough, (you could do the water sizzles when it hits test, but ..... you all are smart people, right?) carefully lay your chicken breast seasoned side down into the pan and season the 2nd side (see, I told you!)

4. Flip when chicken is lightly browned on the bottom (~3 or so minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken). This is where I cover the whole pan with a lid. Less heat escapes, and allows my chicken to cook through more quickly.

5. When chicken is done (there's that pesky thermometer test, the finger test, the cut into it-does it bleed test), remove it from the pan and allow to cool slightly.

6. Meanwhile, shred carrots, rough chop lettuce and spinach (or don't, either way is fine), slice your bell pepper thinly.

7. Slice your chicken very thinly. (It goes a LOT further that way. Don't ask me why. I cook up three breasts and plunk them on plates, people are still hungry. I slice those same three, and all of a sudden, ZOMG, I'm stuffed...and there's about 1/3 of the breast still on the plate.)

8. Lay out your wrap on your assembly surface. Spread it with your condiment of choice (herby cream cheese, mayo, Chipotle-mayo, Aoili (which is fancy for garlic flavored mayo). Lay on some chicken, top with the veggies. You could toss on som shredded cheese at this point, too. Roll it up, and place it seam side down on the plate if serving immediately. You can stick a toothpick in it. You can wrap it in plastic wrap or foil or whatever your conscience will allow you to do. Repeat for the other 3 wraps.

Variations: (Oh, COME ON, you were expecting this part)

Use some other meat. Left over roast beef, ham, turkey. Whatever.
Use arugula. YUM, spicy
Use some other veggies. I use carrots and colorful bell peppers to colorize my families palate. Really, eat the different color families in veggies, to get a better all around nutrition profile.
Any spreadable condiment is fair game.
Eat them for dinner.
Add scrambled eggs, and KAPOW, breakfast on the run. (You can do as much or as little as you want the night before. Zap 'em in the nuker ... or in the oven ... (again, go by your own conscience) and BOOM, out you go with a healthy, nutritious and filling breakfast.