My friend called me up the other day and offered me some napa cabbage from her CSA. Awesome. When I went to pick up the cabbage, she’d also thrown in some collard green leaves. I had just gotten out of an intense Spinning/cycling workout with a friend (see below), and thought some lettuce wraps were in order, collard green style.
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- Post-intense Spinning workout. Always better w. friends!
Every week I also get a juicing bin from Organics to You (if you’re local, I highly recommend). I typically juice every day, but hadn’t juiced in two days and my fridge was overflowing with large quantities of produce (juicing is a great way to keep produce from going bad while still getting all of the nutrients btw!). I had a cut-up cantaloupe in the fridge and another whole one in my produce basket ready to go. What to do? I then remembered about a week ago a reader posted she had made a raw cantaloupe juice with some greens and I knew that’s what I wanted to add to my post-workout lunch. And so, I did. This post-workout lunch was energizing and filling AND well-rounded for its macronutrient ratio (carbs, proteins and fats) 🙂 Anytime you need a quick lunch idea, grab some veggies, tempeh, tofu or grass-fed meat, sauté with some seasoning and herbs, throw it in any kind of lettuce that you can wrap, add your favorite sauce. Bam! Lunch. Snack. Or dinner.
Wrap Tip:
It’s all about the seasoning, sauce and veggie combo and you can make any kind of wrap and create fusions of your own. Have fun trying different things out.
For your leaves: You can use butter lettuce, romaine, collard green leaves, cabbage, even iceberg, or any kind of lettuce with big leaves.
Flavors to play around with: Mexican (cilantro, chili powder, cumin, lime, garlic, salsa, hot sauce, bell peppers, onions, avocado, tomatoes, rice, beans, eggs, beef, chicken, or tempeh, nutritional yeast, etc.). Asian (ginger, garlic, sesame or peanut oil, garlic, basil, green onions, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, edamame, mushrooms, chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu or tempeh, Bragg’s Aminos/Tamari, peanut sauce, chili sauce, cilantro, bean sprouts, etc.). Greek (oregano, tomatoes, olives, lemon, cucumbers, olive oil, chicken, tempeh, or tofu, parsley, basil, feta, Greek dressing, etc.). Lebanese (chicken, beef, lamb, tofu or tempeh, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, rice, olives, feta, hummus, tzatziki, tahini sauce, tabouleh, etc.).
Collard Green Wraps
- 2 collard green leaves, you can use 1 leave as a big wrap or slice them in two and have little wraps
- 2 cups organic, grass-fed/pastured chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu or tempeh (I used leftover grass-fed beef + organic corn and zucchini we had from the night before and added some tempeh to the mix.)
- Shredded carrots (or any veggie combo that goes with your wrap)
- Any seasoning, sauce and herbs you dig! (see the above wrap tip)
This meal took about 5 minutes to make because I used leftovers. Lettuce wraps are great for that. I combined grass-fed beef that already had corn and zucchini added to it, cut up some organic tempeh and stir-fried it all together until it was heated through. I placed my stir-fry mixture in each collard green leaf, added fresh, shredded carrots, sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top, and drizzled chili sauce + Trader Joe’s siracha sauce for some spice. I wrapped the leaves and voila! Fantastically good collard green wraps. I was surprised at how good collard green leaves are this way. Happy lettuce wrap making!
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- Post-Workout Lunch | Collard Green Wraps + Cantaloupe & Greens JuiceCantaloupe & Greens Juice
Cantaloupe & Greens Juice
- 4 carrots
- 1/4th cantaloupe
- 1 orange
- 1 small beetroot
- 1/2 bunch of parsley
- Half cucumber
- Half bunch of spinach
Go organic, why juice pesticides! Wash all produce. Then cut, chop, peel and send all produce through your juicing machine. Drink quickly and enjoy. Cheers from Freshly Grown!
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