Curried Turkey Wraps

    Are you in a brown bag rut?  I admit that I am. Peanut butter and jelly is always a quick and easy option for a workday lunch, but it does get tiresome after a while. I'm always on the lookout for tasty alternatives that are quick and easy to put together, and also satisfying enough to keep hunger pangs away all afternoon.

     I found the recipe for these wraps in an old Cuisine at Home magazine as I was browsing at my favorite thrift store. Thankfully, it turned out to be a delightful change from my usual lunchtime fare.  The curried cranberry-apricot cream cheese spread paired with thinly sliced turkey made the perfect sweet-savory combination, while the cucumber and lettuce gave it just the right toothsome crunch. Paired with an apple, it was just enough to keep me on my toes until the three o'clock bell.
 
      Wraps are definitely one lunchtime option worth further investigation. They're easy to customize according to your tastes, and also to what's in your refrigerator. What's your favorite brown bag lunch?  I'm always open to suggestions!

Curried Turkey Wraps
recipe from Cuisine at Home, June 2004
4 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used Neufchatel)
1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 tsp. curry powder
2 Tablespoons apricot jam (I used my habanero gold jam.)
Juice of 1/2 lime
4 (12 inch) flour tortillas
6-8 leaves red lettuce
8 oz. deli-style roast turkey, thinly sliced
1 cup cucumber: seeded and thinly sliced (I used an English hothouse cucumber.)
1/2 cup cilantro leaves (optional)
 
Directions:

• Combine cream cheese, chopped cranberries, apricot jam and lime juice.
• Warm tortillas gently in a dry skillet until soft and pliable.
• Spread 1/4 of the cream cheese mixture on one tortilla. 
• Layer lettuce, turkey, cucumber and cilantro on top of lettuce. (To keep fillings from squeezing out, leave the top edge of the tortilla filling-free, then roll it up from the bottom.)
• Roll up tightly, and then cut in half at an angle.
• Repeat with remaining tortillas.