Who loves moving? Moving when it is above 90 degrees, is just about as fun as it sounds. Having done this recently, I had a fun challenge coming up with quick and easy meals, while generating as little excess heat as possible. Enter – this saucy creation with some of the usual chick (-en and -pea) favorites, and many goodies from our week’s veggie box from Omache farm – doesn’t it look amazing?! I was already drooling over the Sun Gold tomatoes and fresh basil at the market. Ronn was great to humor my excitement for photographing the beautiful and bountiful box of summer veggies!
If you are in need of a salad or wrap on the go, this is a great option! There’s a base recipe and the deluxe version here, both of which (as usual) can be mixed, matched and added-to in any way you feel inspired.As with a lot of things I make, this recipe can be put together in any or all combinations of vegetarian, vegan, paleo, gluten free, or not, depending on the direction you want to go!
Here it is:
Start by finely dicing some cucumber,
slicing purple cabbage, and red onions,
and grating carrots
(*other options to add here are sliced or grated radish or turnip, chopped kohlrabi, crushed garlic, finely sliced red pepper any or all would be good here)
Don’t forget the finely sliced fresh basil (to add in at the end)
Next, add your favorite sauce to some of the roasted chicken, from Link’d Hearts Ranch that was cooked ahead, knowing you would thank yourself later. I used a smoked-pickled garlic plum sauce, with cumin, that I threw together for some of Omache’s pork loin chops a few days before, using a reconstituted plum fruit leather that my mom made. You don’t have to do this. Depending on your tastes, I’m sure that most (purchased or made) plum sauces, BBQ, or really any kind of sauce would be excellent here, even the old standby of Ranch Dressing- use whatever you’re into. A simple and light version could just be garlic, your favorite oil, your favorite vinegar and some salt and pepper.
Shred up the chicken and sauce, then add the veggies, I also added some camelina oil for flavor, to de-emphasize the sauce a bit and for a nice salad/wrap texture.
You can eat it as-is at this point. I bulked it up, because we were working pretty non-stop with our move. I did by adding some protein-packed, cooked, Palouse-grown chickpeas and toasted sunflower seeds (and cashews, which are not local but were a great addition to this recipe!). I would do these alone, with the sauce and veggies if I wanted a vegan option. If you are not vegan or dairy-free, this dish would be good with the addition of a feta-type cheese added to the salad or wrap.
You can have it as a salad – together with some morel risotto that was frozen this spring, will not fit in the new freezer, and is perfectly convenient to microwave for dinner-while-moving along with some perfect Sun Gold tomatoes on the side
Or as filling for taco-wraps – they were as amazing as they look, I promise! You know you want to try these! If you do, or are thinking about it, please share in the comments – it was such a great way to use stuff from our CSA and fridge, was hearty, quick and easy – Eat it! You know you want to…
Always with gratitude- especially to Shane McFarland for helping to clean up the messes I make!