I have two enjoyable lunchbox ideas for you this week. Soft flour tortillas offer a healthy but tasty alternative to traditional breads, especially if you choose to use wholemeal ones. Alternatively, substitute with pitta bread, which is just as transportable.
These ingredients are also ideal for sandwiches any time of the day or year. In the chicken wraps, the cucumber and red onion give a good texture. This tandoori marinade is one that you could use time and again. It would be delicious with roasted chicken legs or thighs. If you are doing this as a sandwich then it would be nice to add some tomato relish or onion marmalade. If I was serving this at home, I’d slice it on the diagonal and serve each one with a wedge of lemon.
My second recipe is for flapjacks, and would you believe this recipe is one of the first things I ever cooked. I learned from my mother, Vera. They are often laden with sugar, but these healthy flapjacks are packed with vitamins and omega-3. With no nuts they are perfect to go into a school lunchbox or a breaktime snack. For porridge oats looks no further than Flahavans, a wonderful Irish company. If you use the jumbo oats it makes for a better texture. You can pick whatever seeds you like.
This is a big week for me with my new book One Pan Wins about to hit the shops. Thank you to everyone at Gill Books. I am delighted with how it has turned out. It is being launched in Dunnes HQ by my good mate Marty Whelan from RTÉ Lyric FM, who still pretends he is a great cook.
Ingredients: Serves 4
4 skinless chicken breast fillets
4 soft white or wholemeal flour tortilla wraps
1 Little Gem lettuce, shredded or spinach leaves
¼ cucumber, cut into wafer-thin slices
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
For the marinade:
150g thick Greek yogurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 heaped tsp freshly grated root ginger
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp garam masala
¼ tsp chilli powder
Good pinch of ground turmeric
Method
1 First make the marinade. Place the yogurt in a bowl and add the garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala, chilli powder and turmeric.
2 Cut the chicken breast fillets into thin strips and stir into the yogurt mixture. Cover with cling film and set aside to marinate for at least half an hour, but up to two days in the fridge is fine.
3 When ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium. Arrange the marinated chicken strips on a foil-lined grill rack and cook for four to six minutes, turning occasionally until cooked through and lightly golden.
4 Meanwhile, warm the tortilla wraps in the microwave or on a dry heated frying pan for about 15 seconds on each side. Divide the tandoori chicken among the warmed wraps and scatter over the shredded lettuce, cucumber and red onion.
5 Roll up tightly, then wrap in greaseproof paper and then tin foil to pack for lunchboxes or cut diagonal and serve on a plate.
Ingredients: Makes about 20
200g pitted dates
200g extra virgin coconut oil
150ml clear honey
300g porridge oats
100g desiccated coconut
50g milled flaxseeds
50g mixed seeds (such as pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds)
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Line a 28cm x23cm baking tin with non-stick baking paper.
2 Blitz the dates in a mini blender to a purée or you can chop them very finely by hand. Melt the coconut oil in a pan over a low heat with the honey and date purée, crushing up the dates with a wooden spoon so they break up and get lovely and squidgy.
3 Stir in the oats, desiccated coconut, flaxseeds and mixed seeds. Using slightly damp hands, press the mixture into the
prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
4 The flapjacks will seem soft as this point, but don’t worry, they’ll firm up once cool.
5 Remove from the oven and immediately score the surface into about 20 squares. Leave to cool completely in the tin, then cut into squares – each one should be about 2.5cm thick. Store in an airtight tin for up to three days and use as required.
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