Hi friends! I only have a couple of days left before February ends to write another post, and I can't let my post count go below two for a month, however busy I am! The days have been really confusing lately, with their freezing cold starts, warmish afternoons and intermittent rain. I have a recipe of my own to share with you today, which was supposed to be along a springtime theme, but you may not feel that springy yet. If you're not, maybe this will awaken your tastebuds for something lighter and fresher, as the season starts to truly change. The recipe is so, so simple, and it's something I threw together one day absolutely years ago, but husb absolutely loves this meal, and his eyes always light up whenever I put it in front of him.
The main reason I love this meal though, is that it reminds me of some old friends we rarely see; once a year if we're lucky. In the days before children, although I think I was pregnant with big Tonju, they came to visit on a sunny Sunday afternoon when they happened to be in the area, and I made these wraps which we ate on the pub-style bench at the back of our garden. They remind me of laughter, sunshine and joy, and they are the easiest thing you could make. Funnily enough, they take longer to assemble than to prepare! But the ingredients are minimal and, of course, you can add your own ingredients and leave out any you don't want.
Ingredients (for two adults)
Two chicken breasts
Four tortillas
1/2 pack rocket (give or take a bit)
About 5" slice of cucumber
Sweet pointed red pepper or bell pepper
A few spring onions
Scant 1/4 cup soy sauce (that means, just about; a little less)
Sweet chilli sauce
Tub of sour cream
Olive oil (for frying)
Extra-virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Accoutrements
Cocktail sticks
Method
Put a generous glug of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-hot heat.
Slice the chicken breasts into strips and add to the pan.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the pepper, spring onions and cucumber. Slice the pepper into thin strips. Trim the spring onions, cut the lengths in half, then slice in half then quarters along the lengths, so you end up with strips.
Cut the cucumber length in half, then stand each half up. Slice down the length through the middle, then once through each half created, then rotate whilst keeping the cucumber standing, to do the same, perpendicular to your previous cuts. This is not as complicated as it sounds, and will give you nice lengths of cucumber for your wraps.
The chicken should be looking pretty much cooked through by this point (keep an eye on it as you prepare the veg, as it may need attanding to while you're in the middle of it). When it is starting to turn golden, throw in the soy sauce and stir to coat the chicken well. Leave to bubble and splutter for a few minutes until the chicken is lovely and sticky, and cooked through.
Prepare the tortillas. Remove four from their packaging and put on a plate in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Spread out the individual tortillas on a worksurface and begin to assemble, starting with the rocket. Just add a good handful to each tortilla.
Top with some chicken...
...add the cucumber...
...spring onion...
...and pepper.
Now drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper, before adding your desired amount of sweet chilli sauce and dollops of sour cream.
Finally, bring both sides of each tortilla over to create the wraps, then secure with two cocktail sticks per wrap.
Serve!
These are so wonderful enjoyed outside on a beautiful spring or summer's day. They are both sweet and fresh at once, and you can add as much or as little chilli sauce and sour cream as you like. As you can see, I like a lot, though I do add a little too much sometimes! If you have a smaller appetite, one of these would be plenty for you. I do not, but two definitely fills me up.
In case you are wondering about the ultra step-by-step method I've used in this post, and I know I usually go quite step-by-step, I've been revisiting in my head the reasons I started this blog, before I became interested in super-healthy eating. The point of it then, and still now, is to engage with everyday people who want to know how to feed themselves and their families with easy but interesting and even slightly challenging meals. Who want to know a bit more about ingredients, or who are really just starting to cook properly themselves and want to know where to turn to find recipes and encouragement. I really want to engage with those who think they just can't cook, as well. I want to show people that anyone can cook, and that many meals actually hardly require any cooking to create what is a really delicious meal. And I want people to enjoy new ingredients and realise they weren't inaccessible or impossible to prepare after all. I have a lot more to say about how I want to progress the blog and what I am trying to do, but the time of life for me isn't quite right yet as I don't have the time to devote to it (I have two rather more important drains on my time at the moment!) but keep watching as I hope to do some exciting things with it in future, God willing.
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the wraps (whilst sitting in the sun...)
xxx Sam
No comments:
Post a Comment