Nuttilicious Lemon Pecan Picnic Wraps

Looking for any easy last minute additions to your holiday weekend feast? Are you reading this just now and remembering you were supposed to bring a side dish to that barbecue? Or perhaps you’re not from Canada or the US and have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about. Well, tomorrow is Canada Day and this weekend is also July 4th weekend for those in the US (Independence Day being Monday). Either way, holiday or not, backyard barbecue or your humble kitchen, you should make these this weekend because they are mighty scrumptious.

These wraps (or sammiches) are light and filling and super tasty. I find that Tom and create some of the best meals by mistake. In this case, we were trying to make something completely different, but got lazy halfway through and didn’t have all the ingredients, so we improvised, and then improvised again until we came up with these babies. I am actually making them right now for the weekend. Now, you have to promise me you won’t freak out at one of the ingredients though. I know what you’re thinking. That you don’t want to touch the stuff with a ten foot pole, let alone have it as the main ingredient, but I promise you it will delight you if you try it. It’s tofu. WAIT, wait, don’t close the page. Trust me, Tom had no idea what it was until I told him- and he has been leery of tofu since he was twelve (and had a vegetarian father). Try it. If you still hate it, then… I’ll bake you some cookies as an apology.

What You Need

☑ 1 bag of tortillas (or homemade if you’re cooler than us)
☑ 1 pack (350g) extra firm tofu
☑ 1 cup pecan bits (or nuts of your choice)
☑ 1/2 cup peanuts
☑ 1/2 tsp salt
☑ 3 tsp lemon juice (you can squeeze it right out of the lemon or you can just buy the pre-bottled PURE lemon juice)
☑ 1 heaping tsp minced garlic
☑ 2 tsp basil
☑ 2 tsp olive or grape seed oil (and a little extra if you want to dress your wraps)
☑ toothpicks (optional)

What You Do

1.) First we’re going to make the crumbs, so take your pecans, peanuts, salt, and only 1 tsp of the lemon juice and drop it in your food processor or blender. Chop and blend until they are crumby!

2.) Now take your tofu. Now, if you’re anything like I was when I first picked up tofu, you probably have no idea what to do with it. You may even be making a funny face at it. Don’t worry, I’ll explain. You want to first drain the tofu of excess water. Once out of the packaging, press that sucker as hard as you can between your hands without breaking it to get all the water out. Now comes the fun part. In a medium to large bowl, squeeze the tofu into tiny bits using your hands. That’s right, just pick it up and with your hand in the bowl pulverize that tofu. This takes about three to five minutes and you’re done when it looks like crumbly cheese. (See the second photo.)

3.) Add the rest of the lemon juice (2 tsp) the garlic, basil, and olive oil and stir with a fork (or your hands) until it’s all nicely combined.

4.) Add your crumb mixture to the bowl and stir again until it’s all combined.

5.) Cut your tortillas in half if you’re making these for a group and you want nice snacks a little more than bite sized. Then brush your tortillas with a little bit of oil (totally optional- I’ve had it both ways) and dress it how you like. (We put on spinach or lettuce and today I’m trying tomato chunks.) Roll it up, stick in a toothpick, and voilà, you’re done!

I feel like I should note that I was waaay off on how much to put in the tortilla. If you look at the photo with the filling in the tortilla halves, I would say only put half that amount on one tortilla. It’s even good in sandwiches, too.

Enjoy!