Turkey and Veggie Airplane Wraps

I fly out of BWI in a few hours - meaning I must leave for the airport even sooner. And because it's Southwest, there is even less likelihood of eating anything on the plane other than peanuts and, well, more peanuts. At least I'm in the A group (I checked in online exactly 24 hours before the flight, so I was early).

Add to that the craptacular food they sell at every airport my plane may stop, plus the inflated prices of said food, and one is faced with a need to find better food to eat. Since the TSA does not expressly forbid bringing food through security, I made some sandwich wraps to nibble on the plane. I had most of the ingredients at home already, so I only needed to buy a few. Total cost of what I bought: about $5.



This really is a recipe where you can throw anything together that isn't liquifying or covered in fuzz (eww). But here's what I used (stars next to what I bought):

small tomato, sliced
any lettuce but iceberg* (I used escarole)
small avocado*
red bell pepper
tortillas or tortilla wraps (flour - the corn ones, though tastier in my opinion, are just too damn difficult to fold unless they are fresh); the bigger the better.
deli meat (I used low fat turkey)
red onion

Any of the above is optional, except for the tortilla. You kind of need that for a wrap.


Part of what I wanted to put on this wrap was a sandwich spread. It only hit me when I got home just how tasty pimiento cheese or sandwich spread would be on it. But I did come home with the fixins' to make a delicious sandwich spread of my own:

2 T low-fat cream cheese or cream cheese spread*
2 to 3 capers
1 clove garlic, fresh, chopped
1 dash Tabasco or other hot sauce
1 t hot dog relish
black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

It is actually more yellow than this. But this was the only non-blurry least blurry picture I could make. Just imagine it a little yellow.

Again, any of this is optional. But this worked well for me. Except that I should've heated up the cream cheese a little bit before I tried to mix it all up. No problem - just nuke it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Then combine the rest of the ingredients to taste. Enough spread for two tortilla wraps, plus a slice of bread.

For the wrap, spread the sandwich spread in the center of the tortilla, then lay two or three escarole leaves on top. Next, as you like it, add in small quantities any combination of the following (three to four of the following will yield a bulky wrap that you can easily hold closed; it'll all fit in a bigger wrap):

two slices of tomato
two rings of red onion
four strips of red bell pepper
one quarter of avocado, sliced or chopped up
one to two slices turkey, rolled or folded up (even better with some extra sandwich spread on it)

Yes, it came loose - but only long enough to take a photo of what was inside.

Roll it all up tightly and refrigerate it until you're ready to leave for the airport. Make sure you put it in a clear plastic sandwich bag (resealable is best) so you can take it out and show the people at security that it's just a sandwich, and isn't going to hurt anybody.

Try to eat it on the plane, somewhere way into your flight. That way, you don't get starved. Don't wait too long, because there is meat and cream cheese on it. It will only last for a few hours. A totally vegan version, sans meat or cream cheese, should last much longer.

UPDATE: After I opened the first wrap on the plane, I noticed it was a little, well, drippy. Wrap it in a thick napkin or two and you'll be fine.

Here's my little boy. He loves turkey. The goofy cat truly thinks he's a dog because he eats just about everything, including dog food. Y'all should have heard him howl when he saw me with the turkey. He was satisfied when I tore off a piece - or two. Or five.