Wrap it up.

I hosted my Book Club here a few weeks ago. I served some Turkey, Spinach, Blue Cheese and Cranberry Wraps from our current Cooking Club selection, Peace Meals. They were fabulous! A wonderful combination of flavors and textures and a perfect fall lunch dish.



Turkey, Spinach, Blue Cheese and Cranberry Wraps

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1½ tablespoons buttermilk
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced onion
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
½ cup chopped pecans, toasted
¾ cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
8 (8-inch) tortillas
8 slices roasted turkey breast
½ cup prepared roasted raspberry chipotle sauce (I use the Fischer and Weiser brand that is available at my local grocery store)
1-2 medium Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, shredded
3 cups baby spinach

Combine the cream cheese, buttermilk, garlic, garlic and onion in a medium bowl. Add the blue cheese, pecans and cranberries and stir to combine. Spread the mixture evenly over each tortilla; layer with the turkey, chipotle sauce, apple slices, shredded carrots and spinach. Roll each tortilla tightly and use toothpicks to secure. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 4 hours. Slice on the diagonal to serve.

Eloise's note: my tortillas were too small (or too stuffed) to roll tightly so I did not use toothpicks. I just rolled each wrap as best as I could and wrapped it in Saran Wrap. After the wraps were refrigerated, they held their shape pretty well, so I removed them from the plastic wrap and wrapped each one in parchment paper and served them in a basket. I did not attempt to slice them on the diagonal.

Equally well received was the tomato soup that I served with the wraps. This recipe came from my friend Carrie at Buzzings of a Queen Bee.

Heaven in a Bowl

6 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (46-ounce) bottle of tomato juice
2 (14-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons chicken base (I use a brand called Better than Bouillon, recommended to me by my friend JoAnn at Every Day Matters)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup sherry
1½ cups heavy cream
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Sauté the onions in the butter until they are translucent. Add diced tomatoes and tomato juice then purée with immersion blender. Stir in chicken base and sugar. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Stir in sherry and cream. Turn heat back on low and add parsley and basil. Let all the flavors cook and blend together, making sure not to scorch the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste.