To me, a big part of what creates a home is the presence of wonderful leftovers nestled snugly in the refrigerator. I am the type of person that is thrilled to open the fridge door and be greeted with leftovers, in fact most days I knowingly over cater just to ensure my fridge is fully stocked with lovely leftover delights that can be whipped up into delicious dinners, lunches and snacks with very little effort. I rest easier knowing a wonderful pizza or melted sub is no more than ten minutes away. And of all leftovers chicken is an absolute must have and one of my personal favourites thanks to its superb versatility and universal adoration.
First lovely leftover recipe is my crispy chicken, mayo and tomato wraps. Fresh, full of goodness and a perfect addition to the lunch box! Today I used my favourite wraps that are gorgeously green and flavoured with spinach and herb. To assemble the wraps I simply piled on mixed leaves, grated cheddar cheese, adorned with thin wedges of tomato, chunky pieces of the crispy chicken strips and a good squeeze of mayonnaise. I wrapped it all up tightly with a little baking paper and sliced into manageable pieces being very careful not to drop any of the delicious filling. I popped the wraps into the lunch box, along with a couple blueberry crumb bar squares and headed off to the park with Grace to enjoy lunch on a blanket underneath the bright blue sky.
We returned home to a very hungry hubby so I pulled out the chicken strips, a Turkish bread roll and whipped up my second great chicken leftover recipe, crispy chicken and vegetable melt. I love these types of melts, not only do they make great use of the odds and ends leftover in the fridge but with the use of pesto are so full of flavour.
Today’s melt used sun dried tomato pesto that I smeared generously all over the Turkish roll before topping it with paper thin shavings of zucchini and red capsicum, a couple of sweet potato wedges (also left over from yesterday), the crispy chicken pieces and a big pile of grated cheddar cheese. The melt spent a couple of minutes under a super hot grilled where the cheddar grilled and caramelised to golden perfection.
My third recipe for leftover chicken is my sweet potato, zucchini and crispy chicken pizza. Perfect dinner on a Friday night! For these pizza’s I use my above mentioned spinach and herb flavoured wraps, for me they save the hassle of making my own pizza dough and are way more delicious. The wraps are awesomely thin so they crisp up beautifully after a couple of minutes spent under a hot grill. These pizza’s take 5 minutes to make and can be topped with whatever you have on hand.
Today, I spread each wrap with a heavy handed layer of my beloved basil pesto, topped with thin shavings of zucchini, cubes of roasted sweet potato, chunky pieces of crispy chicken and a big mound of cheddar cheese. My trick to creating crispy pizzas is to get the grill really hot before popping the pizza in! These pizzas’s spent a couple of minutes under the hot grill, just until the cheese melted and turned gorgeously golden and the base was crispy. I sliced the pizzas into wedges and served with the leftover tomato salad from yesterdays efforts.
Crispy chicken, mayo and tomato wraps
Makes 2 wraps
INGREDIENTS
2 wraps (I used spinach and herb flavoured wraps)
A big handful of mixed leaves
1 crispy chicken strip (or any leftover chicken you have in the fridge), cut into chunky pieces
1 tomato, thinly sliced
½ cup cheddar, grated
2 tbs mayonnaise
METHOD
Place wraps on a board and place mixed lettuce, chicken, tomato and cheddar along the middle of each wrap. Spread a tablespoon of mayonnaise on each wrap and roll tightly. Cut into three and serve.
Crispy chicken and vegetable melt
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
2 turkish bread rolls, cut in half
2 tbs sundried tomato pesto
1 crispy chicken strip, cut into chunks
Half a zucchini, thinly peeled (I used a regular vege peeler to create paper thin slices)
Half a red capsicum, thinly sliced
4 sweet potato wedges roasted, cut into cubes
½ cup cheedar, grated
METHOD
Preheat grill to high heat.
Cut the rolls in half and grill the outside edges of the rolls until lightly toasted. Remove and spread the cut side of each roll with pesto. Top with chicken, zucchini, capsicum, sweet potato and cheddar and grill for 3-5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden. Serve immediately.
Sweet potato, zucchini and crispy chicken pizza
Makes 2 pizzas
INGREDIENTS
2 wraps
2 tablespoons basil pesto
2 crispy chicken strips, cut into chunky pieces
Half a zucchini, thinly peeled (using a vegetable peeler)
1 cup cheddar, grated
METHOD
Preheat grill to high heat. Spread each wrap with pesto and top with chicken, zucchini and cheese. Grill for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden and the base is crispy. Serve immediately.
[…] crispy chicken & vegetable melt […]