Greek Chicken Burritos {or Wraps}

Spring in Nebraska is a liar. It gives you one warm day, sixty-five degrees, sunshine, and then it snows four inches overnight. That was Tuesday. By Thursday it was fifty again. Nebraska weather does not have moods. It has personality disorders.

I had a short haul this week, just Grand Island to Lincoln and back, which meant I was home by dinner every night. This almost never happens, so I went a little overboard in the kitchen. Monday I made chicken fried steak, real chicken fried steak, with cube steak pounded thin, dredged in seasoned flour, fried in a cast-iron skillet, and smothered in cream gravy. It is the kind of meal that takes forty-five minutes and feeds six people for about eight dollars.

Tyler helped me make the gravy. He is nine and already interested in the kitchen in a way that surprises me, because Dave can barely boil water. But Tyler stands on his step stool and stirs the roux with the focus of a surgeon, and when the gravy thickened up without lumps he said I did that with such pride that I almost cried into the skillet. You do not expect these moments. You are just frying steak and suddenly your son is learning something that will feed him for the rest of his life.

Amber had a rough day at school. She will not tell me what happened, just that she is fine, which in twelve-year-old language means she is absolutely not fine. She went to her room after dinner. I brought her a plate of the leftover chicken fried steak later, because in this family we do not always talk about our feelings, but we always eat. She ate every bite and said thanks Mom, and that was enough.

Justin had therapy on Wednesday. I do not write about that here because it is his story, not mine. But Wednesdays are hard days in our house, and on hard days I make something easy. Tonight it was grilled cheese and tomato soup, the kind of meal that asks nothing of anyone. Some dinners are celebrations. Some dinners are just holding the line. You learn the difference when you are feeding kids who carry more weight than any child should.

Some weeks you are teaching your son to fry steak, and some weeks you are sliding a plate under a closed bedroom door, and some weeks you are just trying to get everyone fed before the day swallows you whole. Greek chicken burritos are what I make when I need a meal that feels like more than the sum of its parts — bright, fresh, something with enough going on that it pulls people out of their own heads and into the kitchen asking what smells so good? The pickled onions and the tzatziki take a few extra minutes, but those minutes are the ones where Amber wanders in and starts shredding the cucumber without being asked, and that is worth everything. Here’s how we make them.

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

Quick Pickled Onions:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon coarse (kosher salt)
1/2 to 1 cup thinly sliced red onion

Tzatziki:

1 medium English/seedless cucumber, shredded (I use the large holes of my box grater)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced or pressed through garlic press
Salt and pepper to taste
Drizzle of olive oil

Chicken:

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse (kosher salt)
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Assembly:

6 flatbreads, wraps or tortillas
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 to 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
Crumbled Feta cheese

Instructions

Pickle the onions. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat until the sugar and salt mostly dissolve, about a minute or so. Add the onions, turning them to coat in the mixture. Set aside.
Make the tzatziki. Lightly squeeze any excess water out of the cucumber over the sink (with your hands or with the cucumber wrapped up in a towel). In a bowl, stir together the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the drained cucumber, and stir to combine. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of olive oil. Set aside.
Season the chicken. In a small bowl, stir together the oregano, basil, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Rub the spices. Pat the chicken pieces dry and rub the spice mixture all over both sides of the chicken.
Cook the chicken. Preheat a grill (or grill pan, broiler or skillet) to medium-high. Grill/cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes per side (exact time will depend on the thickness of the chicken) until cooked through; an instant-read thermometer should register 165 degrees F.
Rest the chicken. Lightly tent the chicken with foil and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
Warm the flatbreads. Heat the flatbread/wraps/tortillas until just warm (in a skillet or I sometimes throw them into a ziploc bag and microwave with the bag opened for 30-45 seconds).
Assemble and serve. Cut the chicken into cubes or slices. Arrange the chicken down the center of each flatbread. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, pickled onions, tzatziki and feta cheese. Roll up, cut in half, if desired, and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Greek Chicken Burritos {or Wraps} — When Your Family Needs You to Just Show Up