Clean Cuisine

I'm sure many of you are familiar and/or in love with the lettuce wraps on the menu at PF Changs and the Cheesecake Factory.  However, for a seemingly healthy alternative to a sandwich or tortilla-type wrap,the nutritional information is astounding.

For one order of PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps (which are typically eaten as the appetizer BEFORE the meal!), be ready to spend:

• Calories:  640
• Fat:  28g
• Saturated Fat:  4g
• Sodium:  2600mg
• Carbohydrates:  68g
• Protein:  32g
• Fiber:  8g

The sodium level alone is enough to make me cringe.


And if you think that's bad, get ready for the nutritionals on the similarly named dish from the Cheesecake Factory:

• Calories:  1536
• Fat:  6g
• Saturated Fat:  6g
• Sodium:  2346mg
• Carbohydrates:  114g
• Protein:  96g

Gagging yet?  Well, tame your gag reflex for a minute, and try my clean, healthy take on Chicken Lettuce Wraps.  Ideally, you want to use Iceberg lettuce for this dish, but I only had Romaine, so I worked with it.

Ingredients:

• 10 large lettuce leaves
• 1 boneless, skinless, chicken breast (about 4-5oz)
• 1/4 c. whole wheat couscous
• 1 c. frozen, chopped broccoli
• 3/8 c. water (or just a little under 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• Garlic Powder
• Black Pepper

Thoroughly wash lettuce leaves, and leave soaking in cold water for 1-2 hours prior to assembling/serving wraps
Preheat the oven to 450
Prep a baking pan with foil and cooking spray
Place the chicken breast on the pan and season with garlic powder and black pepper
Bake approximately 25 minutes or until thoroughly cooked
While the chicken is cooking, bring water and frozen broccoli to a boil in a small pot with garlic powder and sesame oil.
Add the couscous, cover, and turn heat off.  Let sit for 8 minutes, and then fluff with a fork
When the chicken is done, shred it using 2 forks
Assemble your wraps with small amounts of chicken and the couscous/broccoli mixture
_________________________________________________________________

Not only does this taste amazing, but the nutritional information is much prettier than the restaurant versions, and you can play around with different spices to create totally different flavors.

Nutritional information for the entire dish:

• Calories:  410
• Fat:  7g
• Saturated Fat:  0.4g
• Sodium:  94mg
• Carbohydrates:  45g
• Fiber:  10.3g
• Sugars 3.8g
• Protein:  42g
• Vitamin A:  194%
• Vitamin C:  121%
• Calcium:  10%
• Iron:  22%

 
 ...a little bit more bang for your nutritional buck, no?  And it's ridiculously filling.

Be sure to soak the lettuce leaves for at least an hour so they won't break when you roll them...and definitely use Iceberg over Romaine

Shred the chicken using 2 forks if it's too hot to shred by hand

Couscous and Broccoli Mixture

Finished Product!

YUM!

Hope you all enjoy!!