Southwest Chicken Salad Wraps

Submitted by RogerOH

"In this recipe I attempted to blend the flavors where you can't identify many of the ingredients. It has a sweet, spicy and smoky flavor all going on at once. As listed, the spiciness is not overpowering. Please feel free to adjust the amount of peppers to your own tastes. The prep time does not include the overnight refrigeration times."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 40mins
• Ingredients: 27
• Serves: 15

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1⁄4 cup mesquite liquid smoke, plus
• 2 teaspoons mesquite liquid smoke
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 6 dried red chili peppers
• 1 (7 ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup white wine (Riesling)
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
• 1⁄3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1⁄2 cup cider vinegar
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons adobo sauce
• 1 (9 3/4 ounce) can cashew pieces
• 1 green bell pepper (diced)
• 1 red bell pepper (diced)
• 1⁄2 sweet onion (diced)
• 1 carrot (cut in thirds and grate)
• 15 large tortillas (8 1/2-inch)
• romaine lettuce (optional)
• shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 stalks celery (diced)

directions

1. Day One.
2. With a fork pierce chicken breasts many times on both sides.
3. Place chicken in in shallow dish pouring a 1/4 cup of liquid smoke over breasts.
4. Refrigerate for 24 hours turning and basting several times.
5. Make the sauce.
6. In a bowl, combine sugar, salt, mustard, and flour.
7. Combine beaten egg and milk and add to dry ingredients.
8. Mix until smooth.
9. Heat cider vinegar in a saucepan.
10. Gradually add hot vinegar to the bowl while mixing.
11. Add 1 finely chopped Chipotle pepper 1 1/2 tsp adobo sauce to bowl.
12. Add lemon zest and 1 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke.
13. Pour contents of bowl in a saucepan and heat over low heat stirring until it thickens.
14. After mixture has cooled, mix in the sour cream.
15. Refrigerate overnight.

16. The Raisins:

17. Place raisins in a bowl and pour wine over.
18. Refrigerate overnight.

19. Day Two:

20. Preheat oven to 350°F.
21. Place chicken in ovenproof dish and add water to a depth 1/4".
22. Add 1/2 tsp liquid smoke.
23. In a small skillet heat 2 TBS of peanut oil add the chili peppers and fry for 1 minute.
24. Add peppers and oil to chicken.
25. Bake covered for 1 hour.
26. Let chicken cool then shred the chicken.
27. Place shredded chicken in large bowl adding the grated carrot, diced celery, onion, red and green peppers and mix.
28. Add finely diced Chipotle peppers to taste (I used three) and mix.
29. Place cashews in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.
30. Add cashews to bowl.
31. Drain raisins and add to bowl.
32. Add sauce and mix.
33. You can serve immediately, but is much better if you refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

34. To Serve:

35. Place a leaf of lettuce on tortilla.
36. Spoon chicken salad over lettuce.
37. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
38. Wrap up like you would a burrito, leaving the top open.

Reviews

[Shirl J 831]

I followed the changes from the other review and only ended up having the breasts in the fridge from morning till evening. I used less liquid smoke too, and 4 peppers.I did not have the peanut oil so I used olive oil. All in all a fantastic wrap !

 

[ellie_]

These are a lot of work with a very distinctive smoky flavor. When I first made these I didn't refrigerate the chicken salad as the chief suggested and wasn't as happy with the taste the first day as I was on the second day after the salad was refrigerated overnight. Although this is delicious as wraps it is also wonderful over lettuce topped with shredded cheese - making a great lunch salad. The only change I would make next time is to cut down a bit on the liquid smoke and/or marinate the chicken for less time. Thanks for sharing!