Bean's Blog Recipe Book #2

We are back again with another recipe book blog! Have been cooking more recently than I ever have, and we've been finding some good dinner inspirations (mostly on Instagram reels) and enjoyed them all enough that they're worth sharing. I'm not a big "step-by-step" recipe follower -- something Emily and I differ on. I like to wing it, she likes to follow the plan -- so this may not be as cut-and-clean as the previous blog with the measured out seasonings and all that. But I'll give you all the ingredients, the process I followed, and optional add-ins to make it your own.

Today's Recipes:

Chicken Caesar Crunchwraps

Turkey Crunchwraps

Kale Salad with Lemon Butter Shrimp

Doubled up on unconventional crunchwraps and mixed in a shockingly good salad that the Bean's of 5+ years ago would have scoffed at the suggestion -- but thought was VERY delicious.

Chicken Caesar Crunchwraps

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast (1-2)

• Lettuce of choice

• Caesar Dressing

• Tortillas/Wraps (we like the Aldi Spinach Wraps or Protein Wraps)

• Cheese -- Whatever you like in a Caesar Salad (we used shredded Parmesan)

• Vegetables -- "^^" (we used diced onion, bell peppers, green onion -- tomato, avocado would be great options)

• Croutons/Breadcrumbs

Steps:

1. Grill/Pan-sear your chicken -- if we had a grill, we likely would've opted to grill ours, but we pan-seared it for this. When fully-cooked, dice up the chicken into smaller bites.

   1. Pro Tip: Marinate your chicken for a little while before cooking -- whatever seasonings you like in a zip-loc bag with avocado oil, will make it much juicier/more flavorful.

2. Warm up your wraps -- heating your wraps will make them much more pliable/easy to fold over without tearing when it's time to assemble.

   1. Pro Tip: Save a couple of extra tortillas/wraps, cut smaller circles with them in case you over-stuff the crunchwraps and struggle to fold them. This extra circle of tortilla can be added on top at the very end to help fold the outer tortilla over and ensure nothing's spilling out.

3. Chop up your lettuce and veggies -- can also just get a bag of shredded lettuce if you'd rather, but chop up your lettuce and veg into smaller pieces. If using an avocado, can just slice it thin and will work great

4. Layer your Crunchwrap -- once the chicken is done and wraps are heated, lay the wrap down first, and sprinkle parmesan cheese in the center of the wrap. Layer on your Chicken, then some Caesar Dressing on top. Then Lettuce and other veggies, little more Dressing if you'd like, then Croutons for that crunch -- these replace the Tostado from a T-Bell Crunchwrap

5. Wrap it Up -- ensure all ingredients are piled in the middle of the Wrap for best folding. Fold in one corner of the wrap to the middle and hold, then another and hold, and repeat the process until you have that classic crunchwrap shape. Should be 5-6 folds -- once folded, flip over with the fold side down to hold it together.

   1. Pro-Tip: this is where you'd use that extra tortilla if needed. If you're folding the corner in and realize it isn't going to fully cover -- cut a smaller hole in another wrap, put it on top of the croutons, and re-fold. The Corners will be folded into another wrap and will keep all the ingredients inside.

6. In a Pan or Griddle, Melt some Parmesan Cheese -- this will act as the crust on your wrap and is an optional step, but highly-recommended. Pan should be on Medium heat, pile some shredded parm in the middle and let it start getting crispy.

7. Put your crunchwrap fold-side down on the cheese -- the bottom side where the folds converge should go down first. The melting cheese will help secure the wrap so nothing falls out.

8. Flip and heat the top side -- use your spatula and get under the melted cheese and make sure it sticks to the tortilla, flip and brown the top side. Should have a golden brown cheese crust when flipped.

9. Cut in half for the Cross-Section, enjoy with a side of Caesar dressing for dipping, Enjoy!

   
   

Turkey Crunchwraps

Process is very similar to the above, so will go through it a bit quicker -- if the folding instructions were confusing above, just google "crunchwrap folding technique" and it'll be easy peasy. Harder to explain than it is to do -- was very simple.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground Turkey

• Shredded cheese of choice (pepper jack, monterey jack, mexican cheese are good options)

• Lettuce

• Black Beans (I don't like these and didn't use in mine, but good protein-packed addition)

• Guacamole/Salsa

• Tomato

• Sour Cream

• Tostada or Tortilla chips (if you don't have tostadas, you can line tortilla chips in a circle for the same effect)

• Jalapeños

• Wraps/Large Tortillas

Components are very much optional -- choose whatever you like. We didn't have a tomato but still had lots of diced bell peppers and onions, so we used those. We used only guac, no salsa. Can add in some queso if you're feeling really crazy. Whatever you like on a taco is essentially all you need for this one.

Steps:

1. Cook your Ground Turkey -- Large pan, little bit of olive oil heated on medium heat. Throw in your ground turkey, add some seasonings -- pepper, paprika, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder are best for taco seasoning. Can also buy a taco seasoning packet at the store.

2. Once Browned, Add some cheese -- the cheese melts in with the taco meat and makes it even better. Pepperjack was our choice, added some kick and creaminess.

3. Heat Your Wraps -- same as the above, makes the wrap more pliable.

4. Cook your Black Beans -- get a little pot or sauce pan, pour the can of black beans in over medium heat for 6-8 minutes. Follow instructions on the can -- that's what I did.

5. Cut Your Veggies -- dice tomatoes/onions/etc, chop up lettuce or get a bag of shredded lettuce.

6. Layer your Crunchwrap -- Again, ensure you're layering in the center of the wrap for best folding. I suggest starting with Guacamole -- spread directly on the center of the wrap. Pile turkey mixture on top, sprinkle a little extra cheese if you like, then black beans. Then your Tostada/Tortilla chips in a circle -- on the tostada, go sour cream, then lettuce and other veggies.

   1. Pro-tip: even more important than the above, save an extra tortilla and cut smaller circles in it. This one will get real messy without it -- put that smaller tortilla over the lettuce/sour cream/veggies before folding and it will keep it much more secure.

7. Fold your Crunchwrap -- same process as above

8. Sear off in a pan or griddle -- can melt some cheese like we did above if you wish, it adds a nice texture to the wrap and that crispy cheese flavor. Not necessary, but elevates it a bit. Fold side down when searing to secure the whole wrap, then flip and brown the top side. Medium heat in the pan, little olive oil for best results.

9. Cut in half for the Cross-Section, enjoy with a side of salsa/guac/queso for dipping, Enjoy!

Kale Salad with Lemon Butter Shrimp

Ingredients:

• Shrimp -- Peeled, deveined, tails-off for ease (if you want to go through all the work, more power to ya, I go the easy route)

• Bushel of Kale

• Veggies of your choosing (once again, we had bell peppers and onions on hand, so that's what we chose. I think fresh avocado, tomatoes, broccoli could all be good additions)

• Croutons/Breadcrumbs

• Dressing of your choosing (I did Chipotle Ranch on mine -- Emily did an Oil and Vinegar dressing)

• Butter

• Lemon Juice

• Seasonings for Shrimp (I used paprika, salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning)

Steps:

1. Thaw, Peel, Etc. Your Shrimp -- we bough frozen, peeled, deveined, tail-off shrimp, so this part was as simple as letting the shrimp thaw. If you buy tail-on, you can cook them with the tail on and it'll be fine, just makes it more of a chore to eat in my opinion.

2. Heat some Butter, Garlic, Lemon Juice in a Pan -- turn your pan to low-medium heat as to not burn the butter, add a little squeeze of lemon juice and a healthy amount of garlic, mix well

3. Cook the Shrimp -- Shrimp cook real quick, only need about a minute or 2 per side over medium heat. Season with the above once you put the shrimp down in the pan.

   1. My method: cook shrimp on each side for a minute, then let simmer in the pan with the butter/garlic for a few more minutes and toss them around to soak up flavor.

4. Prep the Kale -- Emily handles this better than me but I'll do my best here: Always wash your kale, dry it with paper towels/towel. Stems can be very tough/fibrous -- so pick off any thick stems, cut or rip the leaves into manageable pieces.

5. Season Kale — with Salt, Pepper, olive oil, Lemon Juice -- simple as that, season to taste, if Kale's a tough flavor for you, the more you add the easier and yummier it is to eat

6. Add your Veggies/Croutons -- cut up whatever veggies you choose and add to the bowl.

   1. Pro Tip: for croutons, we think it's best when they're crushed up into breadcrumb-like bits. That way they cover the Kale leaves well, and they'll stick even better when dressed -- giving crunch in every bite.

7. Toss the Salad + Add the Shrimp -- you can add your dressing before tossing, but we like different ones, so we tossed with veggies/croutons first and added our own. Then add your shrimp on top -- add more dressing -- and Enjoy!

If you give any of these Recipes a try (or one of the recipes in the blog linked below from our last Recipe Book Blog) let me know what you think! And leave a like or comment below if you enjoy these types of blogs/want to see more in the future.