Happy Covid-19 Shelter in Place day 14 from San Francisco, CA! Many of us are slowly adjusting to the new world of working at home; video conference calls, shopping at Safeway at 6am to find chicken, washing your hands 45 times a day, and juggling work with home-schooling little ones. In these times, shopping and cooking adds more stress to our already anxiety-filled days. Finding easy and fun things to brighten your day is essential for keeping your spirits up. 

To help in any way that I can, I created an easy, healthy lunch that is easy to put together and can be made in bulk for the week. This recipe combines my mom’s chicken recipe with my own twist. My mom is the author of Life as it Should Be, and she focuses her life on ways to simplify your life in order to free up time to do what’s really important to you.

I’ve also included alternative ingredients below for those of us who are missing ingredients at your local grocery stores.

During these times, I wish you all the most heartfelt “be well”, which also includes wellness in your spiritual and emotional world. Take care of yourselves and let’s get cooking!

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

Olive oil

Bay seasoning

1/2 small shallot, minced*

2 cloves garlic, minced*

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tbs parsley (optional)

1 tsp vinegar

1 handful greens (spinach or mixed greens)

1/4 avocado, sliced

Sprinkling of pine nuts

Gluten-free spinach wrap (or any wrap you can get your hands on)

*For mincing, I cheat here and use this mincer from Sur La Table

Directions

Make chicken: note- this chicken makes 8 servings for this wrap. I make the chicken in bulk as it can be used for many meals, including tacos, salads, spaghetti, etc. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and pat chicken dry and cover with about 2tbs of olive oil. Sprinkle generously with Old Bay Seasoning (you’ll want the chicken almost completely covered). Bake chicken for 10 minutes, then flip and bake 15 minutes or until juices run clear.

Make vinaigrette: In a small bowl, add juice of lemon, garlic, shallot, parsley, vinegar. While whisking, slowly add in about 1/2c olive oil. Season with salt & pepper. Taste vinaigrette and adjust as needed. Too sour? Add olive oil. No taste? Add salt. Tastes like olive oil? Add in vinegar or more lemon.

Alternate ingredients for a richer vinaigrette: sub vinegar for 2 tsp ground mustard or 1 egg yolk

Assembly: Toss spinach, avocado, shredded chicken, vinaigrette and pine nuts. Toast wrap or heat in the oven gently. You want it warm, but not crispy. I usually watch mine and make sure to grab it out as brown spots start appearing. DO NOT microwave. This will result in a soggy wrap that will fall apart immediately. Wrap up your delicious lunch and enjoy!

Other options where ingredients are not available:

No chicken? I used canned chicken for a bit and heated it in the microwave. Believe it or not, I found it at Walgreen’s

No tortillas? Make it a salad with quinoa or Cous-Cous

No greens? Add thinly sliced zucchini, or find a pre-mixed salad, using their vinaigrette. I used a Caesar salad kit for mine when my spinach was out and it was delicious 

None of the ingredients available? Shop at Safeway on Sunday RIGHT as it opens (6am for us) or just give in and have Cup Noodles until you can get what you need. 🙂

In closing, may you be well during these times. Be good to yourselves, be good to others, stay safe. And as we’re saying more than we ever have: We’re all in this together.