Beer Roasted Lime Chicken

Here's a recipe I bookmarked three years ago on Allrecipes (and wow, has the site grown since then!

• 1 (4 pound) whole chicken
• 1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 lime, halved
• 1/2 (12 fluid ounce) can beer
• 1 cup water

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice from the lime over the whole chicken, then place the halves into the cavity of the chicken. Set the half full beer can in the center of a roasting pan or baking dish, and place the chicken over it in an upright position with the beer inserted into the cavity. Pour water into the bottom of the pan. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil, and place roasting pan and all into the oven.
3. Roast the chicken for about 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, removing foil during the last 20 minutes. Baste occasionally with the drippings. When finished, the internal temperature of the chicken should be 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) when taken in the meatiest part of the thigh. Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Apparently, other cooks have added lime juice to the beer in the can, and garlic cloves--2 seems to do it-- and some onion, too. And most of the commenters say they do NOT put foil over the chicken, saying they like crispy skin, and besides, the chicken still comes out plenty moist even on the outside.
It's gotten rave reviews. I think I might try it, but my oven is weird and I don't think it has the height to stand a roaster chicken in.

Turkey Wraps

Now, with this baby, there are ways to get the calorie count down (like using low-fat cream cheese, yo). Without calorie cutting, one serving of this is about 525 k. I'll mark down where I'd make my own substitutions.  Serves 6. You can go to All Recipes and vary the number you want to make. Very cool feature of the site.

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese with chives  --here's where you use the low- or no-fat cream cheese, and use fresh chives!
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard  -no problems here
• 6 (8 inch) whole wheat tortillas  -you can find 80 calorie whole wheat high fiber tortillas now on the market that are *awesome*!
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded iceberg lettuce  -no problemo here
• 12 slices thinly sliced deli turkey   -use what you like, or use fresh cooked turkey or chicken you already have in the fridge
• 3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese  -LOW FAT shredded swiss cheese and yes, it exists
• 1 large tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 large avocado, sliced
• 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled --turkey bacon for the truly devoted to weight loss, but dudes, I'd go for the Trader Joe's Applewood Smoked bacon every time.

1. Mix together the cream cheese and Dijon mustard until smooth. Spread each tortilla with about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture, spreading to within 1/4 inch of the edge of the tortillas.
2. Arrange about 1/4 cup of shredded lettuce on each tortilla, and press the lettuce down into the cream cheese mixture. Place 2 turkey slices per tortilla over the lettuce, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of shredded Swiss cheese. Top each tortilla evenly with tomato, avocado slices, and crumbled bacon.
3. Roll each tortilla up tightly, and cut in half across the middle with a slightly diagonal cut.

This is a simple wrap recipe. How hard could it be?  You might also want to add cilantro instead of chives for a varied taste, or ham, even, with barbecue mixed into the cream cheese. Or does that sound gross? The point is, flexibility. And use LOTS of veggies in your wrap. The meat? Is there for flavor. Well, that's what the bacon is for, but it's not even necessary, if you don't like the stuff. But who doesn't like bacon?

And to throw this wrap recipe in (because I'm just that kinda gal), here's a truly simple wrap called a B.L.A.T.-a BLT with an Avacado in the mix.