Recipe: Chicken & Guacamole Wraps

I spent this Labor Day weekend hanging out with my mom, who came to visit me from San Jose. We had a great time taking walks through Midtown, finding random vintage vinyl & book deals, and of course, cooking and eating (I’ll do a full recap of my recent late summer restaurant forays - to celebrate my birthday, friends’ birthdays, etc. - in a later blog). She headed back to San Jose yesterday and I spent the rest of the day preparing to get back to the daily grind and blogging. After playing around with a new veggie pasta recipe that will be coming up in the next few days, I set about looking into my lunch options. I’ve been seriously craving chicken and avocado and figured I’d make a little wrap out of those and some lavash bread I’d been meaning to use. However, upon inspecting my avocado supply from this weekend’s farmers market, I found that they were all extremely ripe and definitely not in the slicing category anymore. Once again I scrapped the original wrap idea, but not the chicken and avocado part. When life gives you overripe avocados, you make guacamole, and I knew exactly how to put it all together.

Guacamole recipes abound and it’s always great when you find one that really works for you. I’ve tweaked mine over the years and am rather pleased with the result, as are most people who try it. Depending on my mood, I will also add tomato to it, but I find this tastes great either way. If I can afford it, I try to serve it with things like my Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas to make the most of the condiments that can go with that dish, especially if I have friends over. Generally speaking, though, I could eat guacamole everyday if I could afford the avocados; I love it that much. Alas, that is not the case, so I try to make the most of it when I do have it. As fun as it is to do the traditional “dip” method of consumption, I do like to play with my guacamole options, and I’ve used it in a number of non-traditional ways in the past. One of my favorite ways to use it is as a spread on sandwiches and wraps. A lot of folks do this with regular mashed avocado, which is very tasty; I just feel that using guacamole takes things a step further in the flavor department.

If you barbequed this weekend and have any leftover chicken, by all means use it instead of cooking more for this recipe. This is a fabulous way to make use of leftovers to cut back on the cost, and I imagine the barbequed flavor of the chicken (not BBQ sauce, lol) will add a nice kick. Though I used lavash bread for mine, this is sure to be delicious on a flour tortilla or some regular pita bread. This is very easy to make and makes a good, healthy, portable lunch, or can work very well as a nice lazy weeknight meal. If your making this on a flour tortilla or lavash bread, you will definitely have enough to make two meals out of one wrap, since you have plenty of delicious filling inside. And it’s affordable! You only use a couple tablespoons of the guacamole on each wrap, so you can make several these or do half with chicken, half without for a nice vegetarian option, stretching your savings to the max.

Chicken & Guacamole Wraps (makes about 4 wraps; total cost per wrap: $2.25)

1 c cooked, sliced chicken (breast or thigh meat, whichever you prefer)
4 large slices of lavash bread (or 4 flour tortillas)
1 tomato, cut into wedges
1 c baby spring mix or chopped lettuce

Guacamole
2 large ripe avocados
½ medium red onion, finely diced
1 serrano pepper, seeded & deveined and finely chopped
1 T finely chopped cilantro (leaves and stems)
2 T diced tomato (optional)
Juice of 2 key limes (the secret ingredient, though you can also use regular limes)
¼ t sea salt

First, prepare the guacamole. Cut the avocados in half, remove the seed, and gently scoop out the avocado flesh. In a medium bowl, combine the avocado, diced onion chopped Serrano pepper, chopped cilantro, key lime juice and salt, and mash together with a fork. Check for flavor and adjust the lime juice and sea salt accordingly.

Place the lavash bread or tortilla on a plate and add two heaping tablespoons of guacamole. Using a small spatula spread the guacamole around evenly, not quite to the edge. Add a small handful of greens or lettuce then top with a generous handful of chicken and about 3 wedges of tomato. Carefully roll everything together as tightly as possible. Cut into individual slices or into two large halves, serve with tomato slices and extra guacamole if desired, and enjoy!