Low Carb Chicken Lettuce Wraps by Skinny Kitchen

Low Carb Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I am thrilled today to have for you Nancy Fox from Skinny Kitchen. I met Nancy over at a group that we both belong to called Enjoying Yummy Recipes. Nancy sure has some great healthy recipes like Greek Style Chicken and Roasted Potates but she has brought over another one to share today her Low Carb Chicken Lettuce Wraps!! Perfect for Spring!! I would love also to if you would follow Nancy for all her great recipes on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

Nancy Fox is no stranger to the food industry. She founded Mrs. Beasley’s, a gift-basket company featuring baskets full of decadent baked goods. It became the “hot” gift to give among the Hollywood community. 
Nancy later opened 2 low fat restaurants called Nancy’s Healthy Kitchen. Her line of reduced-fat cookies were featured on “Oprah’s Favorites” gift show. Continuing her passion for cooking and baking Nancy created a recipe website called Skinny Kitchen. Each week she shares skinny recipes, cooking and kitchen tips, food finds and the healthy benefits of many recipes. There’s also nutritional facts and Weight Watchers POINTS on each recipe. Now I give you Nancy!!

Here’s a super yummy, easy to make, Asian restaurant favorite! They’re great as an appetizer or light main course lunch or dinner. I’ve made them skinny by browning the chicken without oil and draining the fat after browning. To cut the sodium, I used reduced-sodium soy sauce and rinsed the water chestnuts in water to remove most of the sodium. The rest of the ingredients are mostly the same as a regular recipe. Each wrap has only 62 calories, 2 grams of fat and 2 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS.

 Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients for Wraps:

1 pound ground chicken or ground turkey

8 scallions, white and green part chopped

1 (8oz) can water chestnuts, drained, rinsed and chopped fine

1 red bell pepper, chopped fine

¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

2½ tablespoons hoisin sauce, see shopping tips

1 tablespoon ginger (from a jar) or fresh grated ginger

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 large head butter lettuce, wash, dried and leaves separated

Ingredients for Dipping Sauce:

¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

½ tablespoon ginger (from a jar) or fresh minced ginger

1 teaspoon sesame oil

½ teaspoon garlic (from a jar) or fresh minced garlic

Instructions

1. In a large pan, brown the ground chicken over medium-high heat, breaking up the pieces.  Pour into a colander, in the sink and drain fat.  Return chicken to pan.  When cool enough to handle, break up the chicken pieces until minced.

2. Add the scallions, water chestnuts, red pepper, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, water and sesame oil.  Cook for a few minutes until the scallions and red pepper are soft.  Keep warm.

3. In a small bowl, add all the dipping sauce ingredients and mix well.

4. To assemble each chicken wrap: Spoon about ⅓ cup of chicken filling onto one lettuce leaf and roll it up, if desired. Serve with dipping sauce on the side.  This sauce is quite strong.  You’ll only need 1 teaspoon of sauce per wrap.  You can also set up the components on individual plates and serve family style.  Let everyone make their own wrap.

Makes about 16 lettuce wraps

Food Fact
P.F. Chang’s Chicken in Soothing Lettuce Wraps has become their signature dish.

Healthy Benefits
Whenever a recipe calls for browning ground chicken, turkey or beef follow this easy step.  After browning the meat, pour into a colander in the sink and drain off the fat.  Just using this simple step will cut the calories and fat way down.  It won’t compromise the taste either.

This lettuce wrap is a perfect low carb dish.

Shopping Tips
To save time. I like to use ginger, in a jar, and garlic, in a jar.  Both can be found in the produce section of the supermarket.

Hoisin sauce can be found in the Asian section of most supermarkets.