Monday Meal Ideas: Greek-American inspired Veggie Wraps

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved Greek food. My family isn’t Greek, but growing up my parents had close friends that were, and owned a restaurant. Ria and Chris, who although they have since passed the reins of the restaurant to their son Gus, still help out and pinch my cheeks when I come in on my visits home.

So it’s not surprising that from a very young age, I’ve been accustomed and addicted to Greek staples.  Greek salad, Tzatziki, souvlaki, gyros, dolmas, you name it, we ate it in the restaurant and recreated it at home.

But it wasn’t until after I graduated from university that I had the opportunity to see any part of Greece and while there were certainly elements of my trip to Athens that didn’t exactly please (see this post on my encounter with  the evil caterpillars on Aegina), the food wasn’t one of them. The tzatziki was amazing, as were the sweet and savory pastries, fire-roasted vegetables and grilled meats, but I often found myself longing for a raw vegetarian option that wasn’t Greek salad.

This recipe is my raw Greek-inspired solution. Yes, it includes hummus, which isn’t actually typical at Greek restaurants in Greece, but in my defense, I’m a Midwesterner, after all, and in American Greek restaurants hummus is pretty common. Plus, the hummus makes for a tastier wrap, trust me.

After you spread the hummus on the wholegrain wrap, add the filling.

Greek-Inspired Veggie Wraps (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 8-inch whole-grain wraps
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1/2 cup hummus
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Mix all the vegetables with the olives and the feta and let sit, if possible for a few hours. 
2. Spread the wraps with 1/4 cup hummus, each. 
3. Sprinkle the wraps the veggie mixture.
4. Fold into a burrito. To make it easier to flip on the grill, it’s better to make the burrito closed on both ends.
5. Heat up a stovetop grill and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil.
6. Grill the wraps for about two minutes, or until toasted on both sides.

Don’t skip this step–grilling or toasting the outside of the wrap really brings out the flavor of the raw-vegetable and feta filling.