Tonight's Dinner: Low carb, low fat, no sugar... Chicken Lettuce Wraps & Springtime Lemon salad.

Tonight I wanted to make something really easy, due to it being a school night and I started dinner later than usual. A friend had just requested a low carb recipe, so my mind was in that zone when I created tonight's dinner. You can use any recipe you have for tacos, or meals that you need to lay on pasta, rice, or potatoes, just eliminate the carb by replacing them with a lettuce leaf or a bed of field greens. Arugula is a personal favorite of mine; I just love the peppery flavor this green lettuce provides! Tonight, I just used Bibb lettuce because it makes a nice cup, kinda like a healthier taco shell. ;-)Walla, instant low carb meal! Hee...

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

Pam (olive oil)

1 Lb. ground chicken

Fresh Ground blk pepper to taste, about ¼ tea.

Salt to taste, about 1/8 tea.

1 C. vertically sliced red onion

Artichoke heart out of an artichoke. Or, buy jarred or canned (about ½ C.) 

Cut off bottom; Boil artichoke on stove (bottom in water --until done; about 20-25 min's):

 Cut up core of artichoke:

1/3 C. large cherry tomatoes or small tomatoes cut in half.

1 Tbl fresh oregano torn off stems.

1 Tbl fresh flat leaf parsley torn off stems.

10 garlic stuffed grn olives cut into about 4 slices. 

3 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded in bag if kids are eating; for adults you may want to cube fresh mozzarella cheese.

Squeeze juice out of one large juicy lemon.

Bibb lettuce leaves from one bunch.

Instructions:

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet; coat pan w Pam cooking spray. Add Onion and next 5 ingredients (through olives); cook about 3 min’s.

2. Pour out mixture in a bowl (set aside). Use skillet to cook ground chicken, salt and pepper chicken while in skillet.

3. Cook chicken until no pink is seen and it is crumbled; stirring around often.

4. Add bowl mixture to chicken and heat through (warm up the veggies).

5. Stir in cheese and add lemon juice.

6. Spoon ¼ C. chicken mixture into each of two lettuce leaves.

I just love light springtime salads and this one I literally just threw together; it's so easy! I will try to come up with measurements because I literally just made it up as I went along while posting a picture on FB, chatting with my husband, and tasting my friend’s homemade wine, lol. ;-)

Lemon and Cucumber Springtime Salad

Ingredients:

Garden cucumbers washed and cut lengthwise with a veggie peeler, cheese cutter, or sharp knife into very thin strips. (This will act as your pasta).

1 handful each of Green beans and Sugar snap peas, (about 1/2 C. of each).
Steam for 1 min and 45 sec in microwave.

Place in ice bath imediately to stop cooking.

1 Mango, cut into strips.
Just fyi when deciding whether to use a mango: They get all the sweet flavour from their carbohydrate content. There are many varieties of mangoes, and most of them have a high carbohydrate content. Since the carbohydrates are fruit based, its healthy complex carbohydrates- sucrose (as opposed to simple carbohydrates). Per 100 gms of mangos, there are about 14 gms of carbohydrates. There is almost no fat or protein content in mango. It provides you with more than your daily requirement of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. It also contains fiber, magnesium, iron and antioxidants. So, as you can see mango is overall a nutritious fruit, and like most fruits is low fat and cholesterol free!

The glycemic index of mango ranges between 41-60, so its low. So, mango does not have any significant effect in increase blood sugar levels, so it does not promote fat storage. Due to the medium glycemic index, mangoes are okay for diabetics.

1 Avocado, cut into strips.
In regard to deciding about an avocado: Carb-conscious dieters know that carbohydrates in the form of fiber are not counted as “Net Carbs” – the carbs that interfere with weight control. Half of a Haas avocado has 6 grams of Total Carbohydrate, but the 4.2 grams of fiber brings the Net Carbs down to just 1.7 grams. There are also 1.8 grams of protein, 153 calories and 15 grams of “good” fats. Plus, you’ll gain significant amounts of folate, vitamin A, vitamin E (more than any other fruit), potassium, iron, magnesium, copper, vitamin B6, and riboflavin.

Micro planed /grated lemon peel from one large lemon

Juice of the lemon.

Fresh coarsely ground blk pepper to taste.

Drizzle olive oil around on salad, about 3 circles around, maybe about 2 Tbl's.

Balsamic vinegar, two splashes, maybe about 1 Tbl.

Freshly sliced mint (optional, I did not add tonight, but thought of it... it had become dark outside-- I had already sent my husband out to get the oregano and parsley for the chicken dish, and did not want him to have to venture out again).

Assembly:

1. Place thinly sliced cucumbers into bowl.

2. Add Green beans, Sweet sugar snap peas, Mango, Avocado, and mint (if you use it).

Salad before dressing is added:

3. Drizzle oil on Salad.

4. Squeeze juice over salad, careful to catch seeds.

5. Ground blk pepper over salad, stir ingredients.

6. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over dish.

7. Sprinkle with lemon peel.

 Enjoy ;-)