This sandwich is rich with flavor without all of the calories of a restaurant prepared chicken salad sandwich. I use poached chicken instead of fried or roasted and fat-free greek yogurt instead of mayo. Fresno pepper and hot sauce give it spark, while the mellowness of avocado and the crunch of romaine provide interest. Blue Cheese dressing asserts an unexpected flavor thrill.
I will often make the poached chicken in the morning so that it’s ready for either lunch or dinner. Putting the chicken on to cook early in the day turns this into a really fast weeknight meal or an easy prepared lunch. Poached chicken is also great in enchiladas.
Here’s a brief video for you:
Ingredients for 4 wraps:
- 8-10 ounces poached boneless chicken breast. (How to do this follows).
- ¼ cup non-fat plain greek yogurt.
- Hot sauce (I use Crystal) – about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon. Use the amount that suits your taste.
- Olive oil.
- Garlic powder – about a ½ teaspoon.
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste.
- Paprika – about a ½ teaspoon.
- Chives – a couple of tablespoon chopped.
- 2 handfuls of Romaine lettuce – washed, dried and shredded.
- 1 red chili pepper – seeded and diced. Fresnos are good.
- Green onion – 1 or 2 chopped.
- Shredded cheddar – about 1 cup.
- Avocado – 1 small Hass, pitted and mashed.
- Fresh cilantro leaves – about a tablespoon chopped.
- Blue cheese dressing – I use Marie’s Calorie Reduced Lite Chunky.
- Large tortillas.
To Poach Chicken:
- Place 2 chicken breasts into a pan deep enough to be able to cover them with liquid. Pour over enough chicken stock and / or water to submerge the chicken.
- Add salt, peppercorns, garlic cloves, lemon slice, chives and cilantro.
- Bring to a boil.
- As soon as a rolling boil is reached, cover the pan and remove it from the heat.
- Leave untouched for a minimum of 1 hour. Trust me, it will be cooked through.
- The result will be moist chicken infused with the flavors of the stock. Discard the stock and all of the aromatics. Scrape any herbs from the chicken breast.
To Make Chicken Salad:
- Shred prepared chicken into a bowl. You can use just one breast if it weighs 8 or more ounces and save the other one for something else or use both and have more salad for additional wraps.
- Add avocado, yogurt, hot sauce, chives, cilantro, chili pepper, garlic powder, paprika, salt and black pepper.
- Stir to combine.
To Assemble:
- Cut down from center of tortilla to the edge. Think of the tortilla as 4 triangles radiating out from the center. Place enough chicken salad in the triangle on the left side of the cut to fill that quarter of the wrap.
- Place chopped romaine, green onions and cilantro in the triangle above the chicken.
- Spread blue cheese dressing in the top right corner and then sprinkle cheese below it.
- Fold the sandwich into a triangle starting with the chicken and finishing with the cheese.
To Heat:
- Drizzle a small amount of olive oil or avocado oil into a 10-inch nonstick pan and heat over medium low.
- Once pan is warm, add wrap and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Serve immediately or keep warm on a sheet pan in the oven if you want to serve multiple people at once.