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Keto Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps {Paleo, Whole30} + Video
These simple Keto Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps are a tasty, one pan meal that is a restaurant-classic reimagined. Ready in no-time, these paleo and Whole30 lettuce cups pack a flavor punch.
Earlier last year, I think it was in the late spring, I had the pleasure of attending another amazing event at 1440 Multiversity. During this short wellness event they actually had my lovely friend Michelle from Nom Nom Paleo as a guest teaching an amazing cooking demo for all of us. So fun to watch her cook and create in the kitchen. Michelle made her delicious, popular Potsticker Stir-Fry and that was all it took. One quick sample and I was obsessed, not just in how it tasted but also both in how simple it was and how versatile.
I started making it at home, once a week, most times without the original recipe and as these things do, it slowly morphed into a dish of it’s own in my kitchen. I often would replace the ground pork with ground dark meat chicken, sometimes turkey. I sometimes added the cabbage, but not always. I added bell pepper for the flavor and color and many times I will add water chestnuts at the end, cuz I really love that fresh crunch.
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Slow Cooker Shredded Beef – Three Ways {Paleo, Gluten-free}
We have fully entered the season of busy. Easy weeknight meals are one of the things you guys ask for most, and this is also the struggle I see with many of my nutrition clients, simple, approchable meals for the busy work week. So, today I am sharing one of my favorite, simple slow cooker recipes, that comes with 3 different variations, so you won’t get bored. You could literally make this dish every single week as part of your meal planning and mix it up a million different ways.
My favorite thing about each of these recipes are the many varying ways to serve it up:
- lettuce wrapped
- on a salad
- over cauliflower rice (or traditional grains, like quinoa or millet)
- over zucchini noodles
- in any kind of veggie bowl
- filling for tacos, fajitas, burritos or enchiladas with your favorite tortillas
- sandwich
- filling an omelette
- nachos
- add to soups or stews
- stirred into a scramble or frittata
- add to fried rice or fried cauliflower rice
- over ramen noodles
- just spooned straight into your face!
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Charred Snap Pea Salad with Creamy Almond Butter & Ginger Dressing
Sugar Snap Peas are one of my most favorite spring snacks, as of late. Throughout the day, I open the fridge, there they are, edible just as they come. I really enjoy just eating them raw, sometimes I eat them as is, with a sprinkle of course sea salt, other times, I dip them in guacamole or whatever homemade dip I have on hand – either way I just love their sweet, crisp, fresh and bright flavor. When I am not snacking away on them raw, I also really love eating them in stir fries and now grilled, too.
The charred pods keep a nice fresh flavor, but it they are also slightly tender and the grilling really brings out their inherent sweetness. I love the grilled snap peas over a salad like this one, but they are also great dipped in a homemade aioli or hummus.
This healthy, vibrant and crunchy Spring salad has a bit of an Asian-flare to it with the almond butter and ginger dressing that also has soy sauce, lime juice and sesame oil. If you want to skip the salad part however, grill the snap peas and instead serve the dressing as a dipping sauce. Voila, instant appetizer or snack.
[print_this]Charred Snap Pea Salad with Creamy Almond Butter & Ginger Dressing {gluten-free, vegan, paleo}
serves 4-6
- 1 lb sugar snap peas, washed, strings removed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- sea salt and black pepper
- red chile flakes, optional
- 5 cups lettuce mix
- 1 large carrot, peeled into ribbons
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1/2 cup toasted almond slices
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
Creamy Almond Butter & Ginger Dressing
- 1/3 cup unsweetened unsalted almond butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons, soy sauce, gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon red chile flakes
- water, as needed to thin
Grill the Snap Peas: Preheat the grill to a medium-high heat, with a grilling basket preheating as well. Toss the snap peas with 1 1/2 tablespoons of sesame oil and season with sea salt and black pepper or red pepper flakes, if you like a little more heat. Grill the snap peas for 5-8 minutes, tossing occasionally until charred, they should be crisp-tender.
Make the Dressing: Whisk or blend dressing, adding water as necessary to thin out to your desired consistency.
Assemble the Salad: Arrange the salad greens on a serving platter or in bowls, top with the grilled snap peas, top with carrot ribbons, sliced avocado, almonds, scallions and cilantro. Drizzle the dressing over top, just before serving.
NOTES:
No grill? You can also cook the snap peas in a grill pan or a cast iron skillet on the stove top, if you don’t have a grill.
As with any green veggie, the longer you cook the snap peas, the more olive green they will get in color. For a brighter, fresher green color, just cook for a little less time.
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Slow Cooker Spicy Asian Portobello Tacos with Sriracha Slaw
I am super excited to share this simple but delicious recipe for these Slow Cooker Spicy Asian Portobello Tacos with Sriracha Slaw, nspired by the beautiful green cabbage in-season now.
I feel like cabbage has to be one of the most underrated vegetables of all time. I honestly feel like it gets a bad rap. Most people simply boil it or roast it, maybe they ferment it or add it to salad. I don’t feel like enough meals are centered around cabbage – it seems it’s usually an afterthought. In comes these Slow Cooker Spicy Asian Portobello Tacos with Sriracha Slaw. This super easy to prepare meal is all about the cabbage! From the filling of the tacos, to the tasty slaw, we use the entire head!
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Red Wine Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Coconut Cream
Your farmer brings you a bunch of Asian pears and apples, I mean really, what else is there to do with them then soak them in some booze? OK, yeh, I know, predictable – another blog post that I start out talking about my CSA. Snore! But, to be honest, every single week that box of goodies that shows up on my doorstep, delivered by my farmer himself, and it inspires me and my cooking in so many ways. Every Wednesday, I feel like I am on a game show, where a mystery box shows up and I have to get creative with whatever I am given.
Sure I could have just eaten the apples and pears straight up, but where is the fun in that? Plus, I have to assume if I am getting apples and pears in my weekly box, other folks are too, and they might want some fun ideas on how to prepare them. It doesn’t get much more fun than these Red Wine Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Coconut Cream.
A friend of ours, John, works in the “wine biz” up in LA. What he exactly does, I am not 100% totally sure, but what I am sure of is that he gave me a huge case of some really nice wines the last time I saw him – so he is A-OK in my book. These days I don’t do a ton of drinking, if we have guests or it’s a special occasion, maybe, but generally I drink very little at home. But, cooking with wine, that’s far more my speed.
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Spicy Ginger Sesame Asian Cucumber Salad (gluten-free + vegan)
This easy-to-make salad is one of my favorite go-to, quick summer sides. Now that the beautiful heirloom cucumbers in my garden are coming in strong, I have been enjoying this cool, crisp salad nearly every day. The many wonderful Asian-inspired flavors are all so perfectly well-balanced by the various fresh ingredients.
By allowing some of the liquid to drain off from the cucumbers, you can make this refreshing salad ahead and keep it chilled and not lose and of the amazing crispy crunch of the cucumbers. The cucumbers in my garden are quite high in water, as compared to other varieties, so I find this step particularly important when I use those. I also really love this salad with persian cucumbers, as they hold up super well and their flavor is incredible.
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Grilled Asian Green Beans – Gluten-free + Vegan
This recipe is one of those times I created something on the fly with what I had on hand, haphazardly adding ingredients that made sense to my vision, doing my best to measure and take photos when possible. This particular night I hadn’t made any plans for dinner, it was getting late and I came up with the idea to grill some green beans that we had from our CSA and sugar snap peas I had that also needed to get eaten up. I am pretty sure Mark was a tad apprehensive about having so much green stuff for dinner, but let’s be honest he had no choice really! It was this or cereal. We all know those nights.
I decided to snap photos while I was making this, since some of my most favorite dishes I create are the ones that I don’t stress over, that are inspired by what is fresh from our farmer and what is quick and easy. The sun was literally setting quicker than I could get this served up, so although these may not be the most glamorous or well-styled photos, this dish was far too good not to share with you guys, especially with green beans in season right now.
For the record, Mark absolutely LOVED this green dinner! He couldn’t get over all the flavor and how filling it all was served over a small serving of brown rice. I liked it because for not only the wonderful flavors, but the fact that in less than 30 minutes I went from not knowing what to make us, to this delicious, light and satisfying dinner. Read the rest of this entry »
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Vegetable Stir-Fry with Kelp Noodles – Gluten-free and Vegan
I had a wonderful birthday complete with the perfect yoga class, a fun day of work, dinner with hubby and so many wonderful friends, a delicious cake and I finished the night off with a glass of wine and a visit to my parents house. A wonderful and blessed day, indeed.
Besides it being my birthday month and my absolute favorite season, the only thing (besides the cold) that I really dislike is how early the sun sets this time of year, and it’s just gonna keep getting earlier, too. I miss the beautiful and perfect end-of-day light when I am in the kitchen cooking, after I am done working for the day. Most nights as of recent, by the time we are done working and dinner is made and ready to eat, it is pitch black outside. For some reason I find that to be so depressing. This also poses a problem for taking photos of the dinner that I prepared, if I plan to share the recipe on here. So this fall and winter I am going to try something a little different, since we work from home, on the days I have a recipe I want to create to share with you guys, I am going to actually cook it and serve it for lunch, this way I can take all of my photos, and we can eat it fresh and hot. Win win. Then I can work a bit later in the day and we can just eat a light dinner. I am pretty excited about this as most days I am much hungrier in the middle of the day anyhow, since I got to yoga in the mornings. I think hubby and our assistant are both going to be more than happy about this new schedule, too.
For this stir-fry I used some of the beautiful veggies we got in this week’s CSA. Bok choy, leeks and lots of peppers, plus I added in some shitake mushrooms and carrot that I grabbed at the Co-Op this morning. I served it all with some kelp noodles that I have been so excited to try. After my obsession with zucchini noodles this summer, I thought kelp noodles sounded like another fun grain-free noodle alternative, especially for Asian meals like this one and woah, was I right. They were perfect in this stir fry and I am already dreaming of other fun Asian inspired dishes that they would be great in. (Please note that kelp noodles do have a unique crunch to them from the kelp and their texture is different from that of regular noodles.)
I included some notes below on preparing the kelp noodles, since they technically do not need to be cooked. I ended up rinsing them and running super hot water over them for a while to heat them up a tad, then I tossed them right in the wok with the stir-fry so they would get mixed right in and served right away.
Have you ever tried kelp noodles? How do you like them served?
[print_this]Vegetable Stir-Fry with Kelp Noodles – Gluten-free and Vegan (Grain-free)
Serves 4Kelp Noodles:
1 16-ounce package of kelp noodles, I used these
Kelp noodles come ready to eat, no need to cook. You just need to rinse them, however they are very crunchy so I rinsed them and ran them under hot water for a bit to soften them up. I found the noodles were best tossed with the vegetable stir fry and the sauce and heated up a bit, they softened up a tad this way rather than just spooning everything over. I have also read that letting them soak in water and lemon for about 30 minutes and massaging them a bit with your hands (as you would kale), makes them a bit softer and not as crunchy. I like the crunch and found it to be a nice texture in the stir-fry
Sauce:
- 1/4 cup gluten-free tamari
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons sriracha sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon of corn starch or arrowroot starch
- optional: 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, if not vegan
Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
Stir Fry:
feel free to use whatever vegetables you have on hand, I went with what we had on hand from our CSA and the market
- 2 tablespoons sesame or peanut oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 leek, rinsed very well, slice thinly the white and light green parts only
- 2-3 bell peppers, sliced (I used a purple bell, red bell and red cubanelle pepper)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled then grated
- 1 bunch Bok Choy, sliced thinly the long way, you want about 3-4 cups
- 1 carrot, peeled into ribbons
- 4 ounces of shitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
Additional ingredients:
- Scallions, sliced
- Sesame seeds
- Roasted Peanuts
Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat until a drop of water evaporates immediately. Add oil, then stir fry onions, leeks and bell peppers for about 2-3 minutes. Then add in the ginger and garlic and cook for another minute. Add the remaining ingredients to the wok, the bok choy, carrot ribbons and mushrooms. Toss around and cook until the vegetables are just tender. Add in the sauce, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in some of the scallions, peanuts and sesame seeds, leaving some for sprinkling on top.
Serve over the kelp noodles or add the kelp noodles to the wok and toss it all around. Serve topped with sliced scallions, peanuts and/or sesame seeds.[/print_this]
