Test Kitchen #23: Grilled Chicken Burrito with Corn Salsa

A gorgeous afternoon meant grilling in the backyard on this Test Kitchen Tuesday. This week's brainstorm came from a corn salsa recipe that Mom had clipped from the grocery store circular. After a few minutes planning, we had our vision and headed to the IGA for some extras.

I've had this easy chicken burrito wrap in my mental recipe Rolodex for years. I've made it with fresh chicken or pre-cooked short cuts. I've grilled the outside of the burrito on my trusty grill pan or zap fried it in the microwave. I've used fresh salsa and the ole jar standby. None of these methods are wrong. It might just be what suits your needs at a particular moment in time. But if you can spare the time, using fresh marinated, grilled chicken with homemade salsa and cheese wrapped inside a toasty tortilla is definitely the way to go.

This falls under the "barely needs a recipe" category because you can tweak it so many different ways to suit your taste. The basics are 2 large chicken breasts (about D-cups, as Dad would say), shredded Mexican cheese, 4 large burrito size wraps, and salsa. Place some sliced grilled chicken, a few tablespoons of salsa and a small handful of cheese in a wrap, roll it up and grill until warmed through.

If you really need some steps, do this:

Before making salsa, place all the chicken in a large ziploc bag and add 1/2 bottle of your favorite marinade. We used a Chipotle Lime flavor from Lawry's. Refrigerate until ready to grill.

Fresh Corn Salsa:
1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen corn, lightly cooked
1 small green or red bell pepper, diced
1 small tomato, diced
1-2 scallions, diced
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
pinch of dried parsley

1. Combine all salsa ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble wraps.

2. Grill chicken until well cooked through and slice into thin pieces.

3. On a large burrito-size tortilla, place 2-4 tablespoons of the salsa, about 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and top all with about 1 cup of sliced chicken.

4. Wrap burrito up, making sure to tuck in all the sides so nothing sneaks out. Place back on the grill, seam side down. Turn a couple of times until each side of the burrito is lightly browned and has some nice grills marks. You really only need them on there just long enough to melt the cheese inside and make the outside a little crispy.


The Verdict:

Direct quote from Mom, "Excellent."

Grilling really does make everything better. It's probably second only to melted cheese. Half the pleasure of eating this wrap is just realizing how easy it is to make. Sometimes it's the simplest recipes that are the tastiest. (Maybe stress makes food taste differently. Somebody should do a study on that.) This afternoon's lunch couldn't have been more relaxing. Mom, Dad and I dined at the picnic table while the breeze gently round across the lawn, perfectly pleased with ourselves.

Here's my only tip. You don't have to marinate the chicken. Many times I just season it with a little fajita seasoning and olive oil. If you do choose use a marinade, make sure the flavor doesn't compete with the flavor of the salsa.

When we first made the corn salsa, the cayenne gave it a little too much kick and we were worried that the combination of the bold chipotle flavor in the marinade was going to be overkill. With a few revisions, we mellowed out the salsa and after the chicken was cooked, the marinade turned out not to be as strong as we thought it would.

In short, my advice would be to taste both the chicken and the salsa before putting both in the wrap. That way, if one is way more overpowering than the other, you might want to consider grilling the wraps with just chicken and cheese inside and leaving the salsa as a topping.