Do you want to add some kale to your diet? We all know that kale is full of nutritonal value, but how do you incorporate it into meals. These “Kale and Chicken Burrito Wraps” are absoutely delicious and make a very tasty and nutritious way to accomplish this goal. My chicken breast is tender because I used an Instant Pot set on Sous Vide mode to cook the lean breasts. I added a tangy dressing to the kale which, actually, makes a pretty good salad by itself. This burrito wrap makes a healthy and tasty lunch. I could eat this every day.

Dinosaur Kale

Kale is about the only vegetable which was hardy enough to make it through the freezes this winter in my Louisiana garden. The kale froze back, but the plants have regenerated with new growth in January and February. I guess that there is a reason for why kale is such a predominant plant the of gardens in Ireland, Great Britian and Northern Europe. It really does thrive in cold weather. And a freeze actually makes the leaves taste a little sweeter.

This is dinosour kale (also known by Tuscan kale, lacinato kale). This kale has dark green, rough and bumpy leaves which grow from a central stem. These slender leaves can actually grow to be about three feet tall. (Because this is the second growth after the freeze, these leaves are not that tall.) It is time to pick these dinosaur kale leaves and use them in meals.

Our local newspaper recently featured a recipe for “Kale and Chicken Wraps.” I thought, aha, there’s a unique use for my kale. Although dinasour kale is usually cooked; this recipe uses the raw kale in a salad. In this case, chopped kale leaves are”massaged” with your hands to break down the tough fibers. This recipe involves cooking a chicken breast, chopping the kale and adding a tangy dressing and then assembling the wrap — adding Parmesan cheese, for good measure. For the wrap, I used soft flour tortillas — I always keep these tortillas in my refrigerator and am ready to make hot burritos or cold wraps of some sort at any time.

Tough chicken breasts? You are not alone

I frequently hear complaints that chicken breasts seem so tough these days. It is difficult to cook the breasts so that they are tender. I agree. And apparently it is not just our imagination. There actually is an industry term for these tough chicken breasts which is termed, “woody chicken.” “Woody chicken” is chicken breasts which are coarse in texture, hard to the touch, pale in color with poor quality texture. It is named because the chicken muscle fibers feel like wood fibers. Often these chicken breasts are the larger ones. Apparently, it is a problem that has plagued the poultry industry for about eight years now. Poultry producers and researchers are aware of the problem but do not have a cure. And the chicken breast is the only part of the chicken affected with this problem — not the thighs, drumsticks or wings, for example. So, for the time being, we are stuck with chicken breasts which are “tough.” To minimize the problem, look with smaller breasts with a pink hue, a plump appearance and firm texture. Good luck with that.

Chicken breasts are a lean and healthy choice for getting protein in our diets. There is very little fat in a chicken breast. So, let’s not eliminate chicken from our meals. There are ways to cook the breasts to keep them tender. Sous Vide cooking is one method.

What is Sous Vide?

What is sous vide? Sous vide is a method of cooking a food under a vacuum at a specified temperature. To accomplish this, fill the Instant Pot half way full with water and set the water temperature to stay at 145 degrees. Put the chicken in a zip lock bag and press out as much air as possible. When the zip lock bag with the chicken is submerged into the water bath, a vaccum is created. The chicken just cooks away. And this method works — although it does take about one hour and 35 minutes for one chicken breast. This is the most tender piece of chicken breast that I can hope for.

Recipe

For my recipe, I used one 8-ounce chicken breast. (Yes, this breast was quite large!) I sliced the breast in half crosswise to make it thiner and seasoned both sides with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Then I placed the seasoned beast into a gallon-size zip lock bag removing as much as the air as possible. I sealed the bag except that I left one corner open so that any additional air could excape. I set the temperature to of my Instant Pot Sous Vide mode to 145 degrees and the time to 1 hour and 35 minutes. The entire breast was submerged in water (but not the top of the zip lock bag). When the chicken was submerged, the vaccum was created. The chicken breast simmered away while I went on to make the kale salad. When the cooking time was up and the Instant Pot “dinged”, I removed the breast and patted it dry using a paper towel. Then I seared it on both sides in a skillet with a little oil to enhance the flavor. For this recipe, I sliced the cooked breast into thin pieces for the burrito wrap.

Kale Salad

The kale salad is simple to make. Wash the kale leaves thoroughly!! (They have been in the garden along with all the bugs and critters.) Then I removed the center rib and cut the leaves into strips. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the chopped leaves. I massaged the kale leaves for two minutes with my fingers to help tenderize the kale and breakdown tough fibers. (I put my hand inside a zip lock bag to do this task (or use a disposble plastic glove). This is a raw salad, I’m trying to eliminate germs on my hands from getting into the salad.)

Here are the ingredients for the salad dressing and salad.

Mix the ingredients to make a tangy dressing using sour cream, Dijon justard and seasonings. For my salad, I added cucumber and a tiny bit of onion and garlic — they add so much flavor and texture. Mix everything together.

When I was ready to make the wraps, I softened the flour burritos in the microwave for a few seconds. Then I piled on the chicken, salad and Parmesan cheese and rolled up the wraps. This recipe makes four wraps using 8″ diameter burritos. Delicius!

I enjoy many types of burritos and wraps such as “Breakfast Burritos,” soft ground beef tacos and chicken fajitas. I am pleased to have a new addition to my recipe collection which incorporates kale into the mix. Enjoy the recipe!

Cooking “tough” chicken

And, I am glad that I took the time to research “tough chicken” on the internet and discover that I’m not the only one noticing this problem. It apparently is been around for several years, and subjectively, seems to be getting worse. And how are we to cook “tough chicken” (aka “woody chicken”)? I don’t know how you can figure out if the chicken breasts you purchased are tough or tender. In the mean time, I am treating all large chicken breast pieces like the less tender cuts of meat — such as pot roasts, etc. I am cooking the chicken breasts with lots of moisture, such as braising, poaching, stewing, smothering.

I had good results, for example, when I breaded and seared the chickien breasts, added them to a casserole of spaghetti and tomato sauce, covered it tightly with foil and baked it in the oven. Another idea is to sear the chicken on the stove, add cooking liquid — such as wine, cover tightly and let the chicken stew. a.k.a. Chicken Marsala — see a great recipe for this dish posted on Comfort du Jour’s blog at https://comfortdujour.com/2023/02/15/my-chicken-marsala/. Alternatively marinate the chicken with buttermilk or other marinades to tenderize the chicken breasts. Or use the Souv Vide mode on the Instant Pot. And for roasted, BBQ and fried chicken, I am purchasing chicken leg quarters and individual thighs, legs and wings which don’t have this problem. Now that I recognize the problem, I can deal with it. Wonder why consumers haven’t been appraised of the problem by the poultry industry? Hum.

Reference:

https://www.today.com/food/woody-chicken-breast-t258881

Chicken Marsala Recipe: https://comfortdujour.com/2023/02/15/my-chicken-marsala/