Monday, May 17, 2010

Dinner Idea Wrapped Around My Fingers

Anybody can make a wrap if you have the ability to mix and match! Just play in your mind the flavors and ingredients you want to have in your mouth, and you have a quick and easy meal.

When I began shopping for grocery today, I had no idea what I’d do with the avocado, chicken, lettuce and some other fruits and vegetables like strawberries, carrots, a single red bell pepper, jalapeños and cucumbers. Of course the idea of a free-style salad was top of my mind. IMG_8188IMG_8191P and I are not picky eaters when it comes to fresh ingredients – fruits or vegetables. And today’s dinner was all about freshness and flavors.
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I rubbed some fresh cracked black pepper and salt and threw this chicken breast into the broiler with a stick of butter by its side. 20 minutes later I had my star for the wrap. Cutting it into small pieces was the next thing I did with the chicken breast. IMG_8196A quick something-like-a-pesto was next in line. I whirled in the blender some capers, a handful of cilantro, one jalapeño, a generous drizzle of EVOO, black pepper and one tablespoon vinegar.
IMG_8204 I love sour cream and I somehow was convinced it would be a great spread on my tortillas mixed with some mayo!
IMG_8213I sliced a ripe avocado, red onion, and shredded some lettuce.
IMG_8207Now it was all about assembly!

Toss the tortilla on a heated flat pan to get it warm enough to roll easily.IMG_8212 IMG_8215 Spread each tortilla with one tablespoon each of the sour cream-mayo mixture and the cilantro-capers chutney. Line avocado, lettuce, red onion and chicken evenly among tortillas; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
IMG_8216 Roll up tortillas; wrapping each tightly. Don’t fret if you have things falling off from it.
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Now for the no name salad!

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. I used one diced carrot, few strawberries – chopped, one chopped jalapeño, half of the red bell pepper, some baby spinach, handful of arugula, about quarter of a cup of green onion - finely sliced, some torn cilantro leaves.
IMG_8200To these ingredients I added some diced pieces of  paneer which were put on wooden skewers with red onion petals and sprinkled with turmeric and red chili powder and drizzled with oil. I threw these skewers in the oven for about 10 minutes, just to get some color on them.
IMG_8197IMG_8201I drizzled a vinaigrette of EVOO, lemon juice, black pepper and salt to this salad to enhance all the flavors and crunch.IMG_8205IMG_8202 The secret recipe for a salad like this is Imagination! We loved this great entrée with the tortilla wraps that were brimming with taste. Our dinner was done. For today!

8 comments:

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

wow..wht a fantastic dinner menu...love to eat tht salad and wraps all alone...mouthwatering...eye catching pics...

Kalyan Karmakar said...

This is fantastic. Healthy stuff rarely looked so yummy.

We made a nice mushroom pasta for work through serendipity too. Will post

Jaya M said...

Pree,
we love having wraps..weekened menu te eyita oboshoyi thake..I generally use any left-over aloo -phulkopir torakari as filling or even chana masala..left-over O use hoye jaye dinner O turi hoye jaye :)..have you tried with thosand Island dressing or mayo or honey mustard..wraps saves me when I am no mood to cook anything heavy..hugs and smiles

PreeOccupied said...

@Sanyukta, thank you! :-)

@The Knife, sometimes these serendipity recipes are the most delish.

@Jaya, I do remember salads with Thousand Island dressing, even blue cheese or Dijon mustard. But I dont usually add honey. My husband doesnt like added sweetness, but I will do that for myself. Wraps are every cook's way of short cut cooking! Long live Wraps!

Shilpa said...

That just looks so heavenly :)

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Pree
I was out off delhi , so could not see most blogs the who;e week.
Awesome photography I must say...and the wrap too..
Have a nice week
ghosh kaku

bodyhacker said...

The salad and the wrap both look delicious!

We love wraps too - Have to admit we make a wrap everyday for lunch. They are the perfect, quick, tasty meal that is very verstile (can make veggies ones, fruit, turkey or a combination of all of them...etc).

Thanks for sharing your recipe ideas!
bodyhacker.com

Lakshmi -Celebrations said...

Amazing dear.lot of work gone into it..