Lettuce Wrap Burritos

At the beginning of the year, Tony suggested that we do a whole month of clean eating.  We laid down the ground rules: no gluten, no red meat, no dairy, no processed foods, and no sugar.  Then, because we both are servants to our sweet teeth (is that the plural of 'sweet tooth'?), we decided that on weekends we could take it easy and munch on a cookie or two...

So far, this diet hasn't been terribly hard, because we eat pretty healthfully to begin with (most of time).  Now, my meals are like this:

• Breakfast: eggs and fruit
• Lunch: carrots and hummus -or- celery and natural peanut butter, and leftovers from the previous night's dinner
• Dinner: pretty much normal dinner.  Quinoa stuffed peppers, chicken caprese (without the cheese), salmon and veggies, bean soup.

It feels pretty good eating clean!  And, Tony and I noticed a difference when we weighed ourselves at the gym, after just a week of doing it.

I must say though, I felt rather inspired by last night's dinner.  We were going to do just burrito bowls, but Tony got creative and suggested using the lettuce as a wrap instead of chopping it up.  We loved it, and it was so simple.  The rice, of course, took the longest, but the rest of the prep was too easy.  We just put the rice in the cooker before we headed out for the gym, and then we ate dinner about twenty minutes after returning.



What You'll Need:

• 1 cup brown rice, uncooked (start cooking this immediately, so you're not waiting for it)
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
• ~1 tsp. cumin
• ~2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
• 1 avocado, or a half, depending on how much you like
• 1 stem tomato
• 1 half cup corn, heated
• organic salsa 
• 1/2 head of lettuce
• black or pinto beans, optional

Combine brown rice and 1.5 cups water and let rice cook in cooker or pot - takes about an hour.
Cook chicken strips on stove over medium heat. Sprinkle with cumin and cayenne pepper. Turn over when bottom side of strips is white.
Cut up your fixins. We even added baby bella mushrooms to the lineup because we had plenty in the fridge. Whatever you think will be yummy on your burrito, chop it up! Peel whole layers of lettuce from the head and wash. The outer layers work best because they allow you to make a bigger burrito.

When your rice and chicken are done cooking, you're ready to go!  We set up our fixins buffet-style.  Add your toppings and gently wrap up your lettuce.  Dig in!