My New Year’s resolution was to cut back on eating lunches out during the week (high five-ing myself for still going strong in April). I figured that I would not only save money, I’d eat healthier to boot. But I have found (as you other brown bag warriors can probably attest), the toughest part about packing a lunch on the daily is keeping it interesting. It’s so easy to fall into a routine of same old, same old (or in my case, the most random assortment of pantry food that I can grab on the go as my morning snooze minutes tend to take preference over meal planning). In an effort to keep us both on track, I’m going to share any exceptional brown bag options I discover along the way.

One such recipe has been sitting in my ‘to try’ file for a while, so I dusted it off and found it to be just as delightful as I had hoped! The satisfying crunch of the cashews and cabbage are just the thing to kick this out of the standard chicken salad category. The following recipe makes a big ol’ batch (enough for a few lunches and maybe a quick week night dinner), cause who doesn’t love leftovers?!

You’ll need:

– 1 package tortilla wraps

– 3 cups cooked chicken (I picked up a read-made BBQ chicken at the grocery store)

– 1/4 cup mayo

– 2 teaspoons rice vinegar

– 1 teaspoon sesame oil

– 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

– 1/4 cup chopped cashews

– 1/4 cup chopped red cabbage or slaw mixture

– salt & pepper to taste

What now?:

– chop or shred chicken in to small pieces

– add mayo, rice vinegar, sesame oil, mustard, and salt & pepper

– throw in chopped cashews and red cabbage or slaw

– fill soft tortilla with chicken-licious mixture

– wrap, pack, enjoy!

Snacky little sidekicks:

Assorted unsalted nuts

Apple slices with peanut butter

Air-popped kettle corn

xo Ali