Fajita Lettuce Wraps

I would probably define my self as a food-lover, and I tend to get bored easily with the same foods over and over again.  So one of the things I need to keep my blood sugars in control is variety.  I can't eat the same thing for breakfast every day, or the same two things for lunch.  I have come up with a fun little plan for myself, and I was able to go for 6 weeks without a single repeat for lunch!

 One of my favorite things to have for lunch is a good lettuce wrap.  There are infinite possibilities of what you can wrap inside a lettuce leaf.  I was seriously craving fajitas the other day, and so I decided to try them as a lettuce wrap.  Wow were they yummy!  And because I didn't have any carbs from tortillas, I was able to indulge in some chips and salsa on the side.  Double YUM!

Now, you can make Fajitas about a hundred different ways, but here is how I did mine

Fajita Lettuce Wraps

(Serves 6)

Marinade:

3 tbsp lime juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 lb boneless top round steak, sliced into thin strips.*

Fajitas:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 pkg fajita seasoning(opt)

1 head butter or Romaine lettuce

1 yellow bell pepper, seeds and membranes removed

1 red bell pepper, seeds and membranes removed

1 orange bell pepper, seeds and membranes removed

1 green bell pepper, seeds and membranes removed

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Optional extras:

Sour Cream or greek yogurt

Taco sauce

Pickled jalapeno slices

Black olives

Cilantro

*To make slicing steak easier – place in freezer for 10 min.

In a large ziptop plastic bag or a covered glass dish, combine all marinade ingredients.  Add beef.  Make sure marinade covers beef. Marindade 30 minutes to overnight for best flavor. 

In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over moderately high heat.  Remove steak from marinade and cook until browned through, stirring occasionally.  Add sliced peppers and onions, and follow directions on Fajita seasoning package if using.  Cook and stir just until peppers are crisp tender.  Drain cooking liquid and discard.  

Assemble your fajitas using lettuce leaves instead of tortillas.  I add the meat and peppers, first, then Jalapeno peppers, cilantro, taco sauce and greek yogurt.  YUM!

Alternately, you could just make a fun chopped salad with all of these ingredients.  Just select what you want and chop away.  Then toss with a little extra taco sauce for a fun salad.

This recipe is extremely low carb.   The numbers will vary slightly depending on what optional toppings you use.  These calculations do not include black olives.

Per serving (1/6th of the recipe)

 - Carbohydrates = 16 grams(mostly from the peppers and onions) 

 - Fiber =  3 grams per serving.