Lettuce Wraps

It was one of those nights when I’d just gotten home from the gym, I hadn’t planned anything for dinner, which means that I stood looking into my pantry for what seemed like an hour…do you ever do this and hope that something will just magically appear?

So, I kept looking…and I was getting tired…and I was starving.  When I finally decided what I was going to have, this little bit of deliciousness DID appear!  Remember in my last post how I said that I can usually take what I have on hand and throw something together?  This is definitely one of those times.

Trying to put together the actual ingredient list on this one is making me chuckle, though, because really…how do I tell you to go buy the stuff that was literally just hanging in my fridge and pantry??  But alas, I will, because this recipe turned out so well, that I can’t NOT share it with you!

Ingredients:

2 tsp sesame oil (sesame oil adds a lot of Asian flavor, but you could also use olive oil)

2 tsp minced garlic

1 ½ cups of rotisserie chicken, diced (you could also season and sauté up two boneless, skinless breasts or use ½ lb lean ground turkey, browned)

2 tsp minced fresh ginger (use 1 tsp ground ginger if you don’t have fresh)

1 T dried minced onion

2 small carrots, finely shredded

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen green beans, chopped

1 can water chestnuts, diced

1 cup chicken broth

1 T reduced sodium Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

¼ cup Hoisin Sauce (Hoisin is a brown, thick, slightly sweet sauce and can be found in the International aisle)

2 T reduced sodium soy sauce

½ cup brown rice (I used one cup of the prepared Minute Rice multigrain medley)

2 tsp Siracha hot sauce (more or less to taste)

dried red pepper flakes, to taste

20 crispy lettuce leaves (iceberg or butter lettuce is perfect, but again use what you have), washed and spun free of water.

Sauce:

2 T reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Siracha

Preparation:

Heat sesame oil in a large sauté pan or wok to medium high, and add garlic.  Cook garlic for about 1 minute, then add chicken and ginger and sauté for about 3 minutes. 

Stir in the onion, carrots, green beans, and water chestnuts.  Heat for about 2 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar and soy sauce; heat through to simmer about 1 minute.

Add the Hoisin sauce and stir.

Add the rice and stir.

If you like spicy, add the Siracha and red pepper flakes here and mix.

Remove from heat.

Arrange lettuce leaves on plates and spoon the chicken and veggie mixture onto the cups.  Spoon sauce over the lettuce wraps and enjoy!

Oh, and did I mention that this is super QUICK and MAJOR low cal??

Serves 4 (approx. 5 cups each)

Calories 270 / Carbs 30g / Fat 8g / Protein 30g / Fiber 5g / Sodium 850mg