Some of you may have heard me mention in previous posts, that I am following the South Beach Diet. As I said before, this is not for any brand affiliate. It’s just for me, and to get me moving in the direction of a healthier weight. For the first two weeks on the South Beach Diet, you essentially cut out all carbs and sugar. Knowing myself, and the density of my sweet tooth, I focused my energy preparing carb free meals that were truly a delight to eat, and in turn trick myself into not missing all the carbs (like yummy brown rice), that I was trying to avoid.
This week’s experiment turned out amazingly delicious with these super simple Zesty Garlic Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I used the Land O Lakes® Sauté Express® Sauté Starter again. I just love the garlic and herb flavor. It’s not exactly perfect for South Beach, because it is a mix of olive oil and real butter, but for 80 calories a serving, it’s the choice I’m making. Baby steps people! I’m not as accurate portioning my olive oil as I should be when I saute, so the squares make for great portion control. Plus, I am better at watching the bubbles in the pan of the Saute Starter, than I am with straight olive oil, so I don’t burn the garlic to bitter bits.
I prepped the romaine lettuce for this dinner the day before. I love when the lettuce leaves are super cold and right out of the fridge. I also don’t like washing lettuce right before I use it. Nobody likes drippy lettuce wraps, so I learned this little trick.
I separate the romaine leaves and wash. Next, I spread paper towels on the counter, and line them with the clean, wet, lettuce leaves. Then, starting at one end, roll the paper towel and lettuce leaves up together like a jellyroll. When done, you’ll have a cylindrical roll to slide into a zip bag, and pop into the fridge. As time passes, any excess water drains off the leaves, and into the paper towel layers. The leaves stay moist from the damp towels, and they stay fresh and crisp. When you are ready to use the lettuce leaves, just take the bag out of the fridge, unroll as many leaves as you need, and save the rest for next time. Voila!
The garlicky chicken, onions, and mushrooms, are a wonderful contrast to the cold, crisp, romaine lettuce leaves. Who needs a bun for this explosion of flavor. No carbs necessary! And I have to give kudos to the South Beach Diet plan. I am down nine pounds in three weeks, and I am trying to keep the momentum going to keep losing.
Next up for me…adding in the exercise. It’s time to start making room in the schedule, for what I dread the most. EEK! Exercise should be something you like to do, so you want to keep doing it. My idea is to start off slow with some walking. I don’t hate walking. I do it everyday. Now, a few times a week, I just need to do it a little longer, for consecutive minutes, and maybe add some music. Everything is better with bacon music, right?
What’s your favorite way to start adding activity to your weekly schedule?
- 2 Land O Lakes® Garlic & Herb Sauté Express® squares
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped into bite size pieces
- ½ cup chopped onions
- 1½ cups sliced fresh mushrooms
- ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes (increase if you want more heat)
- 2-3 romaine lettuce leaves per person
- Melt 1 Sauté Express® squares in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat just until bubbles begin to form.
- Add chicken and sauté 13–18 minutes or until chicken is golden brown on all sides and done. Remove from skillet.
- Melt remaining 1 Sauté Express® square in skillet.
- Add onions, cook 1-2 minutes or until softened, then add mushrooms and sauté 5–15 minutes, depending on how done you like your mushrooms.
- Toss chicken back into pan with veggies, and add chili flakes, mix all ingredients.
- Serve immediately with chilled lettuce leaves.
- Fill individual lettuce leaf with chicken mixture and enjoy.
I love lettuce wraps and can’t wait to try this recipe! YUM
Twitter: gottagetbaked
It’s like you wrote this post just for me, Karen. I LOVE carbs ‘n sugar, so needless to say, I really need to cut down on both. AND I hate exercising. I haven’t done it in months but know that I need to start doing it again. I use all the same old tired excuses as to why I don’t have the time, energy, etc, but I know that it’s all BS. As for this recipe – YUM! I love lettuce wraps and this sounds amazing. Thanks for the tips on washing/drying lettuce – I agree, I hate dripping lettuce!
I hear you, Nancy! Enjoy the wraps! I know I will be making them again this week. They are so good!
[…] back, I also could have layered it all on a bed of shredded lettuce, or even made a version of lettuce wraps. Yum! My mouth is watering just thinking about these […]