Jalapeno Chicken Wraps

Isabella starts at UTEP. August 2021. The nursing program. Four years of study that will turn my daughter into the nurse she has been since she was thirteen and decided, and the deciding was the becoming, and the becoming is now official, stamped by a university, approved by a program, launched by a girl who walks onto the UTEP campus the way she walks everywhere: straight, purposeful, with the whiteboard in her dorm room and the stethoscope on her nightstand and the certainty that she is where she belongs.

She doesn't live on campus — we can't afford it, and she doesn't want to. She drives to UTEP from home, twenty minutes, and she comes home every evening and she eats dinner at the table and she studies at her desk and the fact that she is home while attending college is the gift I didn't ask for but received: my daughter, a college student, still at the table, still eating my food, still here. The still-here is the luxury. The still-here is the thing that military mothers learn to treasure because military mothers have seen the alternative.

The bakery's recovery is on track. August revenue: nine thousand two hundred. September projection: nine thousand five hundred. Sofia's Phase Four target — pre-pandemic revenue levels — is within reach. The reach is six weeks away. Six weeks from the day Sofia said "September" and September is arriving and the arriving is the proof that Sofia's plans are not hopes — they are predictions, and the predictions come true because Sofia makes them true, the way I make conchas true, the way Rosa made tortillas true. You make the thing. The thing becomes real. The making is the truth.

I made enchiladas for Isabella's first day of college — the green kind, the tomatillo, the fresh beginning food. The enchiladas are the food of every first day in the Gutierrez house: first day of school, first day of work, first day of college, first day of the rest of your life. The enchiladas say: go. Go and learn and grow and come home and eat and go again. The going and the coming is the rhythm. The rhythm is the enchiladas. The enchiladas are the mother's blessing, wrapped in tortilla, covered in sauce, served at a table that is always set and always waiting.

Every version of the enchilada blessing I make starts the same way — something spicy, something wrapped, something that says I see you, I’m proud of you, now go. On the evenings when the full green enchilada production isn’t in the cards but Isabella still needs that send-off energy on her plate, these jalapeno chicken wraps are what I reach for: fast enough for a school-night dinner, bold enough to mean something. The jalapeno heat is the nudge, the tortilla is the embrace, and the table is always set and always waiting when she comes home.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 large flour tortillas (10-inch)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
1/2 cup pico de gallo
1/4 cup sour cream
1 lime, cut into wedges

Instructions

Season the chicken. In a bowl, toss the sliced chicken with cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
Cook the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken slices and cook for 5—6 minutes, turning once, until cooked through and lightly browned. Add the minced jalapenos and garlic in the last 2 minutes of cooking, stirring to combine. Remove from heat.
Warm the tortillas. Wrap the flour tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 30—45 seconds, or warm them one at a time in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 20 seconds per side.
Assemble the wraps. Lay each tortilla flat. Spread 1 tablespoon of sour cream down the center. Layer on the jalapeno chicken, shredded cheese, romaine, and pico de gallo.
Wrap and serve. Fold in the sides of the tortilla, then roll tightly from the bottom up. Slice each wrap diagonally and serve immediately with lime wedges on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Jalapeno Chicken Wraps — The Blessing I Wrap Into Every First Day