You’re always ready to roll with grilled chicken Caesar wraps
Life is What Happens
By Lisa Zaslow Segelman
Who doesn’t love a Caesar salad? It’s so popular that it’s progressed from being an appetizer, or salad course meal, to a meal in itself.
The addition of a protein such as chicken or shrimp has given Caesar salad credibility and nods of approval from fellow diners as a respectable choice for a light and healthy meal.
The Caesar salad was invented by Italian-American Caesar Cardini in 1924 at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico. His toothsome combination of Romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese, and his own “Caesar” dressing soon became a worldwide favorite.
With the advent in the 1980s of the wrap – a flatbread which can be used to enclose ingredients, a filling of Caesar salad emerged. The Caesar wrap soon became a favorite for its portability and because it was easy to prepare, making it a great solution for diner menus, deli counters, home cooks and for our purposes, a great choice to pack for the beach. Just be sure and pack it with some ice packs!
Some of the ingredients in a Caesar wrap can even be bought pre-made to make preparation easier, but I like to kick it up a notch and turn the wrap into something delicious by grilling the chicken and making homemade dressing and croutons. Grilled chicken from the previous night’s barbecue is more than sufficient, and fresh farmers market romaine lettuce from any one of our almost daily summer farmers markets keep the wrap crisp and fresh.
The elements can all be kept in the fridge and family members can “make their own” to save you even more time. For low-carb or gluten-free friends, skip the wrap and opt for a plastic container and fork.
That’s a wrap! Time to hit the beach.
Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap Filling
Ingredients:
- chicken breasts
- 4 cups romaine lettuce chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup freshly grated or shaved parmesan cheese
- 4 ½-inch-thick slices of French, Italian or whole wheat bread
- 2 garlic cloves, halved
- ½ cup creamy Caesar salad dressing * (see below)
- Freshly ground pepper
- large flour tortillas, your flavor choice: spinach, red pepper, whole wheat
Method:
Make the Creamy Caesar Dressing
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 anchovies
- 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Puree all ingredients in a blender or small food processor until smooth
Make the Croutons:
Brush olive oil on both sides of the bread. Grill on both sides for a minute or two. Brush the bread with olive oil on both sides. Grill for two minutes and rub with the garlic cloves. Cut into crouton cubes.
If indoors, cube day-old white bread. Toss with 2 T olive oil, ½ tsp. garlic salt, and 1 tsp. Italian seasoning. Sauté in a large skillet until nicely browned.
Make the wraps:
Pound the chicken breasts to ¼ inch in thickness. Season with salt and pepper and toss with a few tablespoons of the Caesar dressing. Allow to marinate if possible in a plastic bag for an hour or so. Grill the chicken on medium heat for about 4-5 minutes per side.
Chop the grilled chicken, Romaine lettuce, parmesan and Caesar dressing with a hand chopper in a large bowl.
Warm the tortillas in a large sauté pan so they get those nice grill marks, but are still soft enough to fold. You can also grill them for 45 seconds per side if desired.
Spoon 4 heaping tablespoons of the chopped, grilled Caesar filling into each tortilla and fold up tightly. Place on a large platter, garnish with parsley and halved tomatoes or red pepper slices and serve or pack for the beach.
Lisa is an advertising copywriter (think ‘Madmen’ without the men), journalist and columnist. Claim to fame: Lou’s waitress for four teenage summers. For column comments, story ideas, or to get on her “quote” list for future columns: redshoeslzs@gmail.com
