Leftovers

Roast Chicken Part I –Sandwiches and Wraps

This is for when you happen to have some roast chicken and you’re not too sure what to make of it. Any roast meat makes for a great sandwich. If you’re one of those people who doesn’t eat bread, firstly - really? And, secondly, a wrap is a great option too, and can be a nice change. All the ideas I’m about to give are incredibly simple, I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here. However, I found that in developing my own cooking it’s often those simple ideas which I have built on to create the food that I now love. I’m showing what I like to do, so that maybe you can end up creating your own, even better food. In which case, I’d be very happy and only a touch jealous. Also, I’m not going to give precise measurements, use your eye and common sense to figure out how much of something you want. Just keep on tasting to see where you need to adjust certain ingredients.

Chicken Mayo

This takes me back to Sunday night suppers when I was a child. My mother would make a big Sunday lunch and for supper we would make chicken mayo toasted sandwiches from the leftover roast. The taste of that juicy rosemary chicken with the mayo still makes me smile. Yes, it’s a classic and one that’s very difficult to get “wrong”. It’s dead easy too, just shred some chicken, mix with mayo, season with black pepper (and some chilli flakes if you’re in the mood for a kick) and a squeeze of lemon. There, done!

Variations: Play around with what you’ve got in your kitchen. Chicken Mayo is so adaptable that the combinations are seemingly endless. So feel free to add herbs or spices to the mix. I’m a particular fan of thyme and paprika, but you could add rosemary or chives with some garlic salt. Don’t be afraid to try new things, it’s the only way you’re going to discover what you like and you’ll be surprised at what you come up with.

Chicken, humus and avo sandwich /wrap

I love the combination of avo and chicken – actually that on its own, between some nice brown bread, makes a good enough sandwich for me. But adding humus to any sandwich or wrap is always a winner. Shred chicken, slice or mash half an avocado, season avo with salt and pepper, then assemble on bread/wrap with homemade or shop bought humus.

Nifty Trick: I’m not really one to make humus, as I’m not particularly good at it, but one day I did have a can of butter beans in my cupboard that had been sitting around for far too long. I’ve seen people like Nigella make bean dips, and since I didn’t have any humus I thought I would apply the same idea to the beans. I crushed two gloves of garlic in a pestle and mortar, added half a can of butter beans, seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika and lemon juice – if I had fresh coriander I would’ve added that, but it was still pretty good without it. Its flavour was milder than a regular humus but still well worth a try.

 Sweet potato chicken wrap

I particularly like this one because sweet potatoes take a short time to cook and are hardy vegetables that keep for a relatively long time. For this recipe I would use the orange sweet potato variety. Chop half a sweet potato into small cubes (this will probably end up being too much, but I either have it on the side or the next day), drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper,  then bake in the oven at 200 °C for twenty minutes or until tender. While the potatoes are in the oven, fry some onions (I’d go for red, but if you only have white that works too) with a clove of garlic, until tender, and mix in shredded chicken. When potatoes are done, assemble all the ingredients in the wrap and top with some feta cheese.

Variation: I know I sound like a broken record, but don’t be afraid to experiment  with whatever you have at hand.  Got some green leafy things lying around? Throw that on too. Oh, you’ve got pesto?! Can’t go wrong with that!