You can tell how beloved a recipe is by the number of splatters you see on its page in the cookbook. This one is decorated with eight splatters (peanut sauce) and a permanent post-it note. I make this when I want something fresh and borderline healthy with big flavors. It calls for a little fussy chopping, but not much. I don't know about anyone else, but sometimes I welcome the chance to cut a cucumber into matchsticks.
This Rachael Ray recipe makes four giant wraps if you use large tortillas or countless tiny sorta-wraps (seen above) if you go with small ones. Two people? Prepare to have leftovers, which you can wrap and refrigerate for lunch the next day, or you can keep the three main components in separate containers and turn them into a salad, skipping the tortilla.
A word about the peanut sauce: it's sensational. Leftover sauce makes a fabulous vegetable dip.
INGREDIENTS
Chicken
- 1 lb. chicken breasts, i.e. 3 or 4 <-- or you could go with tenders
- 1 T soy sauce
- 1 T vegetable oil
Salad
- 1/2 seedless English cucumber, cut into matchsticks or similar tiny size
- 2 C fresh bean sprouts
- 1 C shredded carrots
- 3 scallions, sliced on an angle
- 12 leaves basil, chopped or torn
- 3 T chopped mint
- 1 T sesame seeds <-- I think the black ones are gorgeous
- 2 t sugar
- 2 T rice wine vinegar or white vinegar
- salt, to taste
Sauce
- 1/4 C room temperature peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
- 2 T soy sauce
- 1 T rice wine vinegar or white vinegar
- 1/4 t cayenne pepper
- 2 T vegetable oil
4 twelve-inch flour tortilla wraps
DIRECTIONS
Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Toss chicken with soy and oil and grill 6 minutes on each side. About half as much time for tenders.
Combine cucumber, sprouts, carrots, scallions, basil, mint and sesame with a generous sprinkle of sugar and vinegar. Season salad with salt, to taste.
Whisk peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and cayenne together. Stream in vegetable oil.
Slice cooked chicken on an angle.
In a very hot nonstick skillet heat tortillas 15 seconds on each side. Pile chicken and veggies in wraps and drizzle liberally with spicy peanut sauce before wrapping and rolling. Tip: if you're making big wraps, you might want to roll them in waxed paper and cut them in half on an angle. The waxed paper, which you can roll down as you eat, can catch drips.
Comments