Bacon Pineapple Chicken Wraps

So bacon.  We all love it.  It is a miracle food.  Breakfast isn’t the same without it.  But it is far more versatile than most of us give it credit for.  I hope to inspire you with this recipe to move beyond bacon cheeseburgers or BLT’s when you think of bacon in the PM.  I promise this recipe will blow your mind and taste buds away.  Every bite will give you salty, savory, sweet, and spicy.  How can that be bad?  It can’t.  It has a few steps, but it is well worth the preparation.  It can also be made gluten-free by changing the wrap to a corn tortilla, and Paleo by using full leaf lettuce as the wrap and ditching the cheese.

I tend to pair this meal with grilled or pan seared asparagus and rice, but anything you desire would be great…or nothing at all.  Enjoy.

Bacon Pineapple Chicken Wraps

Serves 6

Ingredients

Main Dish

2 pounds of chicken breasts

1 pound of bacon

2 tomatoes, diced

1 can of sliced pineapple

1 orange pepper

1/2 pound of sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 head romaine lettuce

Guacamole

Spicy Citrus Marinade

Tortillas

Guacamole

2 large avocados

1 tomato, diced

1 glove minced garlic

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon onion power

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice of one lime

Spicy Citrus Marinade 

2 TBSP olive oil

1 glove minced garlic

1 tablespoon chili power

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional.  It will give it much more of a kick

Juice of one lime

1/2 Cup of orange juice

Juice from the canned pineapples

Preparation

Cut the chicken breasts into fillets.  This serves three purposes.  First it gives greater surface area to marinade, increasing the flavor.  Second it significantly cuts down cooking time, and because cooking time is reduced, there is less chance of burning the outside of the chicken or having a raw interior.  Place these fillets into a container for marinating.

In a small mixing bowl add all the marinade ingredients, the order doesn’t matter since they are all going to be mixed together anyway.  Stir until the mix is uniform.  Pour the marinade into the container holding the chicken.  Move the chicken around to ensure all pieces are covered in the marinade.  Refrigerate for one to two hours.

The Guacamole

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the guacamole.  Cut and peel the avocados.  Mash thoroughly.  I like to use a pastry cutter to accomplish this, but a fork and some time will work just fine.  Once the avocados are mashed, add the spices and lime juice.  Stir until the guacamole is uniformly seasoned.  Add the diced tomatoes and stir gently until uniform.  Cover with plastic wrap touching the guacamole (this prevents browning) and refrigerate.   The flavors will mature over time, so preparing this an hour or more before service is best.

The next step is to prepare the remaining accoutrements and place them on a serving plate.  Dice the tomatoes.  Shred the lettuce.  Cut the pineapple slices in half.  Grate the cheese.  These can all be served on the same plate, and require no further preparation.

Cut the peppers into thin slices and set aside until ready to cook.

Once the chicken has marinated for the desired length of time, remove from the refrigerator and drain the marinade into a small sauce pan.  Place the sauce pan on the stove over medium high heat and reduce the liquid to about one-third of its original volume.  It is the sauce for the wraps.  When the liquid is reduced, remove from heat and strain through a wire colander into a gravy boat of other suitable serving instrument.

Begin to cook your bacon.  The best method to cook a large amount of bacon at the same time is to bake it.  Line a cookie sheet (or two) with tin foil.  Line the bacon slices so that they do not overlap.  Place on the top rack of a COLD oven.  Set a timer for seventeen minutes and turn to oven onto 425ºF.  When the timer goes off, your bacon will be cooked.  (Note, all ovens are slightly different.  Your oven may cook the bacon a little quicker or a little slower.  Until you know the correct time, watch the bacon after minute 15 and up to minute 20)

Begin grilling or pan frying the chicken.  I like to use and electric griddle for cooking the fillets because of the large surface area.  If you don’t have an electric griddle, cook the chicken in a frying pan in batches.  Each fillet will take 10-15 minutes to cook, depending on thickness.  Make sure the chicken is fully cooked to an internal temperature of 165ºF, with no pink and clear running juices.  Once the chicken is fully cooked place in a cutting board to rest for at least five minutes.

Heat a small frying pan over medium high heat.   One it is hot, add a teaspoon of oil.  Add the pepper slices and cook until they brown slightly.  Placed the cooked pepper slices on a serving dish along with the bacon.

Finally cut the chicken fillets into long slices and place alongside the cooked bacon and peppers.

Take the cold serving plate, hot serving plate, guacamole, sauce and tortillas to the table.  It is time to make your wraps.  (Note: if you want warm wraps, please see the instructions on the packaging.)

Place a wrap on your plate.  Add a spoon full of cheese.  On top of that place one to two pieces of chicken, half a piece of bacon, a pineapple slice, a spoonful of guacamole, some tomatoes, lettuce, and sauce.  Close the wrap and enjoy.

Paleo Wrap