Clean Eating Asian Lettuce Wraps

If it weren't so late I'd make my way into the kitchen right now to make these again.  There definitely were not any left overs the first time I made these.  I am on an Asian kick lately whether it's this chicken salad, teryaki chicken skewers, mongolian beef, fried rice-you name it, I want it!  This is a perfect light and fresh summer salad.  It's clean.  It's delicious.  It's filling.  What more could you want?

 

Ingredients

For the filling:

2 grilled chicken breasts

1/4 c shredded carrots

3green onions

2 T chopped cilantro

1 diced avocado

For the sauce:

1/2 c tamari

1/4 t grated ginger
1 clove of garlic
1T white wine
1/8 t sesame oil
2 T honey
1/2 t red pepper flakes
dash of rice vinegar

Directions:

1.  Dice chicken into small pieces.

2.  Add to a bowl with cilantro, carrots, avocado and chopped green onions.

3.  Grate ginger and garlic into a bowl.  Go light on the ginger, add more later if you need it. I grate them using my micro-plane.

4.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined.  Taste test, adjusting honey if need be.

5.  Pour over chicken mixture and enjoy. 

I used large romaine leaves but you can use iceberg, butter lettuce or even cabbage.  This recipe would make a great Asian cabbage roll!  mmm...

You may be wondering what tamari is, it's a gluten free soy sauce.  Recently, I've started eliminating as much gluten from my diet as I can.  Not because I have to but because of the difference I feel when I chose not to have it.  The taste is only slightly different.  You may notice it at first but once you've had it a few times you don't realize the difference.  

As I said, there weren't any left overs.  My husband and I devoured these!  We had two big wraps each and I (bow my head in shame) pretty darn well licked the bowl.  

 

Butternut Squash and Farro Salad with Kale

It's a mouthful.  Both literally and figuratively.  I love when I feel full on food that is good for you!  While browsing for healthy salads a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this salad from Well Plated.
I can never remember what it's called but I can remember that it's delicious.  How can you forget something that's delicious?  You can't.  At least I cant.

This is a perfect winter salad because it's served warm.  However it is perfectly scrumptious cold as well!  Her recipe calls for freekeh which I couldn't find and definitely didn't have so I used farro instead.  It's a very hearty grain that's perfect with this combination.

I have only recently started using maple syrup as a sweetener in salad dressings.  I normally use honey but since I've made the switch I'm sold!  I find that the type of flower the bees used can drastically change the flavor of a dish.  While maple syrup has a strong flavor it's definitely hidden when combined with other ingredients.  

This salad will be making it's way onto my menu again real soon!  I hope it's on yours too!

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

I love chili!  It's delicious and inexpensive, which is a popular combination in my house!  It's easy to create a healthy version without feeling like you're robbing yourself of flavor.  I typically use lean ground turkey for my chili.  There's just something about ground beef that sends a chill up my spine.  Don't ask me how I can eat ground turkey and not ground beef.  I'm sure it stems from childhood trauma in which my mother put a healthy meal in front of me that I refused to eat.  The nerve.

I've talked about my mom's chili before when I posted this recipe for Chicken and Quinoa Chili (which actually tastes better than it looks in the picture). My sister and I would only it eat my mom's chili on top of saltines.  We would layer chili, sour cream and cheese of top of little crunchy, salty squares and eat until our bellies were bursting.  Mmm...remember that Sis?

Last month we had a Pumpkin Patch Birthday Party for my toddler.  We painted pumpkins, served up chili and ate pumpkin cupcakes.  The kids had almost as good of a time as the adults did ;)  When I planned the food for the party, I had our a few of our guests in mind.  One family has severe food allergies and intolerances so I wanted to serve something that would be easy to fix and would be safe for them to eat.  Chili to the rescue!  I made two different kinds, turkey chili and sweet potato with black beans.  The sweet potato and black bean chili was a hit!  It was loved by everyone!

Ingredients:

2 small sweet potatoes, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 14.5 ounce can of chili tomatoes
3 14.5 cans of water
2 cans of black beans  (drained and rinsed)
1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa
1 box of Carol Shelby's Chili Mix

Clean eating variation: eliminate cheese and sour cream

Directions:

1.  In a dutch oven, saute onions until translucent.  Add sweet potatoes and cook on low for 1-2 minutes.
2.  Add tomatoes, water and seasonings, reserve the masa for later.  Stir and bring to a simmer.
3.  Stir in quinoa, cover and cook for 12-15 minutes.
4.  About 5 minutes before serving, add black beans.
5.  (optional) Mix the masa with 1/3 cup of water and add to the chili to thicken.  (Add a little at a time until you reach desired thickness)

Note: I cooked this chili the night before the party and reheated it just before the guests arrived.  I've also made this in a slow cooker.

What's chili without the toppings?  I love them all!  There's nothing like a spicy chili with the coolness of the sour cream and the sweetness of the cornbread!  Mmm...cornbread!  For our guests at the party, I made gluten free corn bread and made sure I had toppings I knew they could enjoy.

Now that's a bowl of chili! 

Next time you find yourself wondering what to do for dinner, give this a try!