Southwest Crunch Chicken Salad Filed under ( chicken, light recipes, quick and easy, salad, wraps )

Chicken salad has never really been one of those meals I've craved when hungry, but after trying this recipe, I'm hooked! I loved the crunch and flavor of this salad, especially when rolled into a tortilla with lettuce and tomato. The dressing is tangy and full of fresh cilantro, the bacon adds such great smoky flavor (as bacon always does!), and the cashews and peppers make it nice and crunchy. I probably had this for lunch three days in a row and never got sick of it! This is perfect for entertaining guests, or going on a picnic!

Southwest Crunch Chicken Salad
Adapted slightly from Taste of Home, Healthy Cooking June/July 2009

Ingredients

1/2 cups fat free mayo
1/4 cup fresh minced cilantro
1/8 cup lime juice
1/8 cup orange juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded or cubed chicken
1-1/3 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 pound center cut bacon strips, cooked and diced

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add mayo mixture; toss to coat. Chill until serving.

Creole-Style Potato Wraps Filed under ( BSI challenge, panini, Potatoes, sausage, veggies, wraps )

For a few weeks now I have been watching the BSI challenge coming and going feeling a bit too shy/lazy/unequipped to jump in, but when Christo from Chezwhat? chose potatoes for the challenge, I felt like I would be doing my homestate (Idaho) wrong for not joining. Potatoes were a huge part of my diet growing up, and why wouldn't they be? We were surrounded by them, they are cheap, delicious and versatile. I love potatoes!

My food loving hubby and I had a lot of fun thinking this one up. I'm not entirely familiar with Cajun style food, but we do have a bottle of Creole seasoning, so we went with it. My biggest piece of advice for you when you make it, make sure you use the biggest and sturdiest flour tortillas you can get. I made the mistake of using small, lowfat ones, and ended up having to just stack another tortilla on top and making "wedges" instead of wraps. It tasted just as good, but I think it still would have been a bit easier to eat had it been pressed as a wrap. I loved the mildness of the potato with all the bold spicy flavors of the Cajun seasoning and andouille sausage, and the tomatoes and mushrooms added a nice cool balance. This was so much fun to create with my husband and definitely something that we will be making again!

Creole-Style Potato Wraps

Ingredients (for 1)

1/2-1 baked potato, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon creole seasoning
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1/4 cup ground andouille sausage, casing removed (Costco has a great chicken andouille sausage) 1 green onion, sliced
1/4 cup mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 large flour tortilla

Directions

Sprinkle each potato slice with creole seasoning, both sides. Heat large skillet with olive oil and saute potatoes until each side is browned. Set aside. In same skillet, saute sausage, green onion and mushrooms until mushrooms and soft and onions are slightly wilted. Lay tortilla on plate. Arrange potatoes down the center, then lay tomatoes on top.



The top with sausage mixture and cheese.
(Can you see the ridiculousness of my small tortillas? I ended up just spreading the ingredients out, adding more potatoes and tomatoes, and placing another tortilla on top. Luckily the cheese held it all together nicely.)

Fold the outside sides of tortilla into the center and lay gently onto panini press, or pressed into a skillet with a weight on top. Be sure both sides are pressed evenly until tortilla is nice and browned and the cheese is melted. I'm not exactly sure is sour cream is part of Cajun eating, but it would be a delicious way to top these bad boys all the same! Here you go Christo, thanks for choosing such a great ingredient!

Thai Chicken Wraps Filed under ( chicken, light recipes, Thai food, veggies, wraps )

*Hey all! I just wanted to let you know, my computer is giving me total attitude and has made it very difficult to go food blog surfing. I'm telling you this because I haven't been able to leave comments the way I like to. Computer and I need to duke it out some more and hopefully I'll be back soon!

Not too long ago I ordered a wrap really similar to this at T.G.I. Fridays. They have a $5 deal going on for the rest of this month, so if you're looking for a cheap date, or lunch, it's not too bad.

Anyway, the entire time I was eating it I kept thinking to myself how easily I could make something like this at home with ingredients I already had in my fridge. So a few days later, I whipped one up. It was light, healthy and absolutely scrumptious.

Thai Chicken Wraps

Ingredients

Spinach or flour tortillas
Diced or shredded chicken
chopped lettuce
chopped tomato
chopped green onion
sliced red pepper
cooked soba or spaghetti noodles (I put a little less than 1/4 cup on each wrap)
chopped peanuts
chopped cilantro
hoisin sauce
peanut sauce
sweet chili sauce

Directions

Mix sauces to taste, there is no wrong way to put the sauce together, it all tastes delicious! Lay out tortilla, assemble all ingredients pouring sauce on first and last, and maybe leaving a little left to dip! Wrap tightly, cut in half if desired and enjoy!