Lunch tends to be a very boring meal in my life. BF always teases me about how, despite much I enjoy cooking, I refuse to make myself lunch. I won’t even make myself a sandwich. Not even when I’m making the BF’s lunch.
During the work week, it’s usually some underwhelming Lean Cuisine, or a sad store-bought salad. Most of the time I can’t even muster the will to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And we all know how I feel about peanut butter. On the weekends, I can hear the apprehension in his voice when he asks what we should have for lunch, knowing that I’m going to run down a list of the leftovers we have stashed in the fridge.
Then, in this month’s Bon Appetit, there was a recipe for a curried chicken sandwich. I don’t know why, maybe it’s because of the BA’s stunning photography, but I just could not shake this chicken recipe from my head. It planted its little curry seed in my brain and all I could think about was how I needed it in my belly. STAT.
The original recipe was a little too bready for me, so I ditched the bread for a wrap. Since I had maybe two of the ingredients required for the slaw, I made something closer to my usual slaw recipe for some crunch. I added some dried cranberries for a touch of sweetness, but I think you could replace them with some julienned apple.
This chicken would also be great in non-wrap form, with some basmati rice, or even in a salad. Finally, a decent lunch.
Curry Chicken Wraps
For the chicken:
- 4 large wraps
- 1 pound thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
For the slaw:
- ½ head red cabbage (or 1 10-oz size bag shredded red cabbage)
- 1 medium shallot or ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup dried cranberries (I think julienned apples would be good here too)
- 1 Tablespoons mayo, more if desired
- 1 Tablespoon yogurt or sour cream (or just an extra tablespoon of mayo)
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (or vinegar, white or apple cider vinegars would work)
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt
- Salt and pepper, to taste
1. Combine marinade ingredients (buttermilk through red pepper flakes) in a gallon-size ziploc bag. Add chicken and toss to cover. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
2. While chicken is marinating, make the slaw (I prefer to make mine no more than 1 hour before serving). Whisk all ingredients except cabbage, shallot, and cranberries in a large bowl. Once combined, add cabbage, shallot, and cranberries; toss to coat. Add additional mayo if you would like it creamier, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate.
3. Preheat grill to high heat. Cook chicken until internal temp reaches 165°F about 4 minutes on each side for thinly-sliced chicken. Remove from heat and tent with foil to rest until slightly cooled, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. When ready to serve, slice chicken on the bias. Spread slaw onto wraps and top with chicken. Wrap tightly and cut in half.
* I used thin-sliced chicken because, in my head at least, it shouldn’t need to marinate as long as regular chicken breast and I needed to eat this stuff for lunch. If you use regular chicken breast, make sure to marinate it at least 4 hours.
