Well…the last year blog hiatus was unplanned. Lot of “life” things happened and the blogging fell on the back burner. The fun part is that all of the “life” things were good – a new house and a new baby came our way in 2015! I was pregnant for most of the last year and was REALLY tired the majority of my pregnancy, which really was silly because I sat all day for work (I commend any pregnant mama out there who is on her feet all day). Thus, I lost my drive for blogging as I spent many a night sprawled out on the couch with exhaustion from baking a human, or working alongside Luke to figure out the details / paperwork / DIY projects that come with a first house purchase, or making lists on lists on lists to prep for baby. Ruby Julaine arrived on October 2nd and it’s been a whirlwind of blow-out diapers, a hungry hungry baby, and giggles / cries / grins ever since.
Time does fly though and I’m now a mama to a three month old (what?!) and 9+ months into being a homeowner. I’m on my last few weeks of maternity leave and just love all the time I get with my little peanut. I’ve been finding time to have fun in the new kitchen while Ruby naps or while she’s strapped to my chest. Food is still VERY much one of my favorite things to read about, explore, talk about and share. I just have to be a bit more creative about how to sneak it into my day.
This blog started as a place where I could not only track the recipes that I knew would be “make again” for me because of how delicious they turned out, but to also share those recipes that I love, with you all. I’ve had a blast seeing what posts resonate with folks the most, creating and sending out Giveaway Packages and finding new and different ways to explore food.
As I prepared to delve back in to the blogging world, I knew that a different approach on the blog would be needed due to Ruby requiring so much of my free time. As all of my past posts will show, I used to photograph every step of a recipe. I always thought that was cool on blogs that I read and I appreciated seeing those as I tried new recipes to ensure I was doing things the right way. But, I’ve realized that…
- it makes these posts crazy long at times
- often all of those pictures don’t provide anything better than a simple written description could
Thus – I’m trying a new approach going forward with a just a few summary pictures to capture a recipe and a more concise “How to Make” section.
Enough back story and rambling, what am I bringing to the blog today? This is a recreation of a “Twisted Turkey” wrap that I would get EVERY time it was offered at one of my past client’s cafeteria. It was a basic turkey wrap but with sautéed onions and cranberry mayo, which brought the wrap to another level. I always thought of it as a twist on a Thanksgiving dinner with elements of turkey and cranberry sauce used in a completely different way.
When I left that work project, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would have a craving for that wrap. So I made my own version, and I think you’ll LOVE it!
I added my own healthy twist for the cranberries – making a cranberry yogurt instead of mayo. The base is a twist from my favorite cranberry sauce from Real Simple with Greek yogurt added in until the yogurt was smooth enough and the right taste. I also left out the bourbon from the base recipe (though you could keep it in and crank up the flavor even more!).
I also amped up the sautéed onions by taking a sub-recipe from my French Onion Soup Meatballs recipe, which I featured before on the blog. I have a vivid scent memory of making the onions the very first time I made those meatballs and I thought they’d be PERFECT for this wrap. I wasn’t disappointed!
I would recommend making a big batch of the sautéed Thyme Onions and Cranberry Yogurt in advance and then you’ll have both on hand to add to your wraps for the week and you can add these into other dishes too! The onions are great in sandwiches of all shapes and sizes or even on top of a steak and the cranberry yogurt is really tasty with granola and ice cream. 🙂
Ingredients (makes 1 wrap):
- 1 tortilla
- Handful of your choice of greens (I used iceberg lettuce in one wrap and spinach in another, up to you!)
- 3-4 tomato slices
- 1/2 cup of Thyme Onions (see below)
- 3-4 slices of deli turkey breast
- 2 Tbsp of Cranberry Yogurt
Thyme Onions:
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 white onions, halved and sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 cup beef stock
- 1/4 cup red wine (I used Shiraz)
Cranberry Yogurt:
- 1 12-ounce bag of cranberries (I used fresh, but you can also do frozen)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup grapefruit juice
- Greek yogurt to taste (I used about 1½ cups)
How to Make:
I recommend starting off with the Thyme Onions. These smell utterly FANTASTIC as they cook. Have a snack to munch while you make these, or you may be tempted to eat your hand. Seriously.
Slice your white onions by halving them and then slicing them into half-moon shapes. Add the olive oil to a big skillet and heat up over medium heat. Add in the sliced onions and the S&P. Stirring often, cook the onions until they’re caramelized – about 15-20 minutes – then add in the thyme, beef stock and red wine.
Turn the heat down to medium low and stir the onions frequently until there is little to no liquid left. Turn off the heat and set the onions to the side. They’ll be a pretty light purple (from the wine) and will taste SO good.
To make the Cranberry Yogurt (my spin on cranberry mayo), it’s a combination of making a traditional cranberry sauce, like you’d eat at Thanksgiving, and then adding in yogurt until the result is the taste and consistency you want.
Put the cranberries, sugar and grapefruit juice all into a saucepan and simmer the concoction over medium low heat. You want to let this go until the cranberries burst and the sauce starts to thicken up, which takes about 20-25 minutes.
It works great if you have the onions and the cranberries all going at the same time as both need similar total time to cook and you can then stir and keep an eye on both things.
Once your cranberries are thick and the berries have burst, you’re ready to add in the yogurt. I love the creaminess and taste of Greek yogurt (not to mention the extra protein), so that’s what I recommend. Pour the cranberry sauce into a food processor (blender would work well too) and slowly add in yogurt until you get the flavor you want and the consistency you want. I added yogurt in 1/4 cups increments to see how things tasted / looked after each addition. I ended up adding about 1 and 1/2 cups total. But, this is completely up to you! Once you’re done, it’s a gorgeous pink color.
The time has come to assemble your wrap! Spread the Cranberry Yogurt in a line down the center of your wrap and then, using the back of the spoon, spread it all over the tortilla. You can’t feel guilty about using lots of this delicious stuff, as it’s NOT the usual condiment of mayo. Yay!
Down the center of your tortilla, add your greens of choice and the slices of tomato. Then, lay your slices of turkey. Lastly, spread out the Thyme Onions on top.
Fold up the bottom and wrap up the tortilla by folding one side of the tortilla over your ingredients and then gently rolling it up. Slice in half and enjoy!
This takes your normal turkey wrap and really kicks it up a notch in flavor. One of my favorite lunches to purchase is NOW my favorite lunch to make at home. Cheers!
Spatulas & Buttons 