Grilled Chicken & Hummus Wraps

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! New year's eve is arguably the most hyped night of the year. Apart from being hyped, it is also arguably the most disappointing night of the year. You make big plans with your friends on a Saturday night in a pub after you've had a few drinks in November, to go to places and do things to ring in the new year together, and as the day draws closer, people start to drop off with excuses of other plans. Worse, are people who say, 'I'm not sure if I can make it, but I will definitely let you know next week', because it's never next week, and on the off chance that they do give a positive confirmation, it's too late to make bookings, and you have to switch to plan B, which is almost always just another party in the city. It's the same as most Saturday nights but it costs 4 times as much, there are twice as many people, and they play 'The Final Countdown' at 23:59 for 2 minutes instead of whatever else they would usually be playing at the time, and as the clock hits midnight, couples around you start to snog, as you wait awkwardly for them to stop so you can get around to wishing each other.

Not to be too much of a downer though, I've had my fair share of disappointing new year's eves, and I've had a few good ones too. I've been to parties with my best friends and danced the night away, I've been to ones where we were buzzing at 22:00, passed out at 01:00, and up at 05:00 to go white water rafting, I've traipsed across Switzerland, I've even been home alone eating steak and potatoes while watching House of Cards. The more memorable ones however, (predictably) involve girls. These girls generally fall in the following categories: 'Girls I'll never get', 'Girls I'll never ever get', and 'Don't even think about it'. 2011-12 was the year of 'Girls I'll never get'; I spent most of the night talking to a pretty blonde at the party only to have her disappear at 23:55, then 5 minutes later, the ball dropped, and presto, snogging couples. 2014-15 was the year of 'Girls I'll never ever get'; I was at a house party and there was this gorgeous girl in yoga pants, really pretty, easy to talk to, and quite fun. We talked for a long time and seemed to be getting on great but every time we had a moment, we'd get interrupted by her best friend's boyfriend. This went on until the whisky finally caught up with her and she passed out leaving me looking around at, yes, snogging couples. I found out later (to my appalling luck) that she had instructed Interrupting Boy to make sure she didn't get too close to anyone. 2012-13 was the year of 'Don't even think about it'. I was at a party with my friends in a club in Sheffield, UK, when I saw quite easily the prettiest girl in Sheffield at the bar. She was wearing a dark green dress and the light bounced off her hair as she tried to get the bartender's attention to order a drink. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was just new year's, but for the first time, I was compelled to make a move. Any move. But my mouth had forgotten how to speak and there's only so long a brown bloke can stare at a white girl in a bar without it getting creepy so I just pointed at her, and gave a  thumbs-up, smiled and hurried away. Incidentally, it turned out that she was sitting right where we were and a few exchanged glances and smiles later, we struck up a conversation. Conversation led to dance (poorly on my part), and dance led to shots. About then, the DJ started counting down, she went back to her friends, I looked around, the ball dropped, and once again I was trapped in a sea of snogging couples. The night wasn't a total loss though, I did see her as the party was ending, and we exchanged digits. I haven't met her since, but we began talking and became pretty good friends (and still are). She reads my recipes and since she is partial to chicken, has promised to try out my recipe for butter chicken. (You should too, it's fantastic!)

Today's recipe is another chicken recipe that is really yum, and super healthy.

For my Grilled Chicken And Hummus Wraps, you will need the following:

Chicken breasts	4
Hummus	generous amount
Tomatoes	2
Cucumber	1
Lettuce	1
Whole wheat tortillas	4
Salt	to taste
Pepper	to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Make little cuts on the meat.
2. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
3. Rub the seasoning on both sides.
4. Cut up the tomatoes.
5. Cut up the cucumber.
6. Tear the lettuce. 

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a griddle pan on.
3. Splash in some oil and spread it evenly.
4. Wait until the oil heats up.
5. Slap on the chicken. 
6. Step back from the sputtering oil.
7. Cook for 5-6 minutes and flip the chicken over.
8. Cook for another 4 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
9. Crank the heat up, and flip the chicken a couple of times for a few seconds each to get the grill marks.
10. Turn the gas off.
11. Take the chicken off the pan and let it rest for a few minutes.
12. Cut the chicken into biggish cubes.
13. Grab a tortilla.
14. Slather on the hummus.
15. Plop on the chicken.
16. Throw on the lettuce.
17. Toss on the tomatoes. 
18. Pop on some cucumber.
19. Roll it into a wrap. (Or wrap it into a roll.)
20. Wipe the griddle pan clean and bung it on the burner again. (Medium-high heat.)
21. Put the wrap on for a few seconds on each side to get the griddle marks on.
22. Serve.
23. Stuff face.
24. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: You can use more (or different) veggies if you want. Grill them in olive oil and a little salt and pepper, or just add them fresh.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!