Lunch Box Chicken Wrap

School started Monday and it is different from any first day I have had in my four years. It is in person, fully, all students, masks but fully present, and the classroom is ours again in the specific way it is when the kids are in it. I stood at the door Monday morning and watched them come in and said each of their names as they crossed the threshold — something I do every year, their name said out loud as they enter, because I want them to know from the first moment: I know you, I was expecting you, you are supposed to be here. That is the whole first day in one sentence.

The slow cooker came out Sunday night and I made a big pot of chicken and vegetable soup that I ate for lunch Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, which is the correct school-year lunch situation. I also made a double batch of the enchilada casserole on Sunday and put half in the freezer. This is the Kowalczyk school year meal system, now in its fourth year of operation. Ryan has started contributing to the freezer meal practice — he made a big batch of his firehouse chili on Sunday afternoon and portioned it out for weeknights when he is working and I need dinner in ten minutes. We are a team. We have always been a team. Marriage makes the team more official.

I have three new students this year who I have been thinking about all summer. One of them, a six-year-old I will call P, came in Monday with a stuffed animal tucked under one arm and walked directly to the sensory corner I had set up and sat down in the beanbag chair and looked around the room. I let him be there for five minutes. Then I went and sat next to him and said welcome. He looked at me for a long moment and then he said it back. Welcome. We are going to be fine, P and I. We are going to get somewhere good.

This post is the slow cooker chicken soup, because it is what I am eating this week and what I will be eating every school week, and also because it is the kind of reliable thing that asks nothing of you when you have already given everything to a classroom of children who needed you.

The soup gets me through Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday—but by Thursday I want something I can grab, wrap in foil, and eat at my desk between grading and the next round of small humans who need things from me. This Lunch Box Chicken Wrap has been in the rotation almost as long as the soup, and for the same reason: it is simple, it is filling, and assembling it on Sunday night takes about eight minutes, which is exactly the amount of energy I have left after Ryan’s chili goes into the freezer and the enchilada casserole comes out of the oven. It is a small act of taking care of yourself on a Sunday so that Thursday-you feels like someone was thinking of her.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced
4 large whole-wheat flour tortillas (10-inch)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup romaine lettuce, shredded
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup sliced cucumber
1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Instructions

Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt (or mayo), Dijon mustard, garlic powder, and onion powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Toss the chicken. Add the cooked, shredded chicken to the bowl and stir until evenly coated in the dressing.
Assemble the wraps. Lay each tortilla flat on a clean surface. Divide the lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, and cheese evenly among the four tortillas, layering them in the center.
Add the chicken. Spoon the dressed chicken mixture on top of the vegetables in each tortilla.
Wrap and secure. Fold in the sides of each tortilla, then roll tightly from the bottom up. Wrap each completed wrap in foil or parchment paper.
Store or serve. Serve immediately, or refrigerate wrapped in foil for up to 3 days. These hold up well in a lunch bag with an ice pack.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lunch Box Chicken Wrap — The School-Week Lunch That Asks Nothing of You