Quick Chicken Roll Ups

After college I moved to Charlottesville, Virginia for graduate school. Sophie, the family Pomeranian, and I lived together in a cozy two bedroom apartment for two years. This was my first time to live without a roommate, a non-furry one that is. When I moved back to Birmingham I moved into another apartment by myself for a year before buying a condo. After living alone for several years I was ready to have a roommate again. I was excited when Elizabeth was moving back to Birmingham and we decided to be roommates in the condo. There are definitely great things to be said about living alone, but I was ready to have someone else around at night after work to talk to, eat with, and just have around. Living together was a lot of fun and one of the best parts was our shared interest in cooking. We would cook together almost every night after work and it was a wonderful experience to share with her. Once Seth and then Russ joined the picture you could find the four us eating together most nights. After Elizabeth got married and moved out we no longer cooked together every night, but we still enjoy getting together frequently to cook and eat together. Even though we both have different roommates now, Elizabeth and I still love to talk about cooking, share recipes, and get together to cook and eat.

Tonight’s dinner is a recipe that Elizabeth and I developed to mimic one of our favorite dishes at a local restaurant. We ate this at least once a week while we lived together as they were simple, quick, and delicious. To make the Chicken Roll Ups you start with cooked chicken. Russ smoked a beer can chicken last night just in case the turkey wasn’t big enough for everyone, so that is what I used. Elizabeth and I would either buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store or cook chicken tenders (often after marinating them in Italian dressing) on the indoor cast iron grill. You can pretty much cook it anyway you like but once it is cooked either shred or chop it into small pieces. Then sauté sliced onion in a little olive oil. Once they are mostly cooked add cut up tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes that I quartered) until they are heated through. I seasoned these lightly with salt and pepper. You then start an assembly line with the chicken, flour tortillas, crumbled feta, onions and tomatoes. Lay out a flour tortilla and add a little bit of all the ingredients to the middle and then roll it up. Once you have made all the rolls then place them on a lightly greased grill pan or skillet and let them heat through on each side for a couple minutes. Serve them with salsa for dipping.

These are so quick and easy to make that it is perfect for a busy weeknight or a night when you are really tired, but still want to eat at home. If you are having a really busy week then a great way to get quick dinners at home is to buy a rotisserie chicken and use it for the rolls ups one night and in other ways such as a salad or tacos another night. This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover chicken. The roll ups have great flavor with the feta adding a nice taste. After they are heated the feta turns soft and is just delicious. I also like the combination of onions and tomatoes. I think next time I might add cut up kalamata olives to the mix. You can really mix up the ingredients in lots of different ways to suite your taste. Russ rates the roll ups a 9.