Sweet garlic chicken lettuce wraps

with blistered edamame (our new favorite side dish!)

Hello! How’s your week going? It’s spring break for my older kids and we’ve packed it full of fun activities, including a fire station tour, sunny walks and bike rides, late-night movies, and a roller rink visit (probably the most fun for me since it felt like a blast back to my 90s childhood!).

Our week has been full of fun treats, too, like this coconut cream pie (a bonus recipe I sent out on Tuesday, in case you missed it!), muffins, and these high-protein breakfast biscuits which are new on the blog.

But one of our favorite meals this week is the recipe I’m sharing with you today: sweet garlic chicken lettuce wraps with blistered edamame, inspired by a couple of dishes at a sushi place we recently went to.

The recipe for these lettuce wraps relies on pre-cooked chicken (like rotisserie). You’ll make a simple, five-minute, tamari-garlic sauce, then assemble the accoutrements— fresh toppings like radish, carrot, cilantro, and green onion— before piling it all on top of tender butter lettuce leaves.

And then there’s the blistered edamame. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my kids eat a vegetable as fast as they can devour a plate of this edamame. It’s super simple to make, and only takes a few minutes to prep. You’ll season the edamame with a splash of tamari and cook it for a few minutes in a searing-hot pan, then serve it with a generous sprinkle of flakey sea salt.

Keep reading for the recipe and printable PDF, available below to paid subscribers. If you’d like a new dinner recipe every week, bonus recipes and access to every recipe in the week-long meal plan I send out every month (it’s going out next week!), consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Either way, I’m happy to have you here!

---

A short list of things I’ve read, cooked, and enjoyed this week!

• This fascinating paper co-authored by

  Nina Teicholz
  which addresses the myths and facts about ketogenic and low-carb lifestyles. If you’ve ever had anyone tell you that low-carb or keto diet is not sustainable, harmful, a “fad diet,” etc., the authors address each of those claims and support the idea that a ketogenic or low-carbohydrate diet can be sustainable and beneficial long-term.

• This Alfredo chicken and broccoli bake is one of my family’s latest favorite meals! It’s packed with veggies (broccoli, spaghetti squash, carrot, onion) and flavor (bacon and chicken!), all smothered in a creamy sauce.

• Anja Lee Hall
  shares a wonderful “metabolism 101” in this newsletter, including a breakdown on meal timing and how to eat throughout the day to support a well-functioning metabolism.

• My friend Arash just had his first cookbook published— So Easy, So Good— and it’s full of flavorful, low-carb and high-protein dishes with a Mediterranean spin! It’s beautiful and everything truly looks so easy and so good. I can’t wait to cook from it!

---

Before I get to the recipe, I wanted to take a moment to highlight last week’s Mediterranean beef bowls and this sweet comment from a subscriber. Feedback like this makes my day and I’m so grateful for this kind community. :)

---

A few tips before you get started:

• You’ll want to use the largest skillet you have for the edamame, and allow time for it to really get hot. The point of blistered edamame is to deeply sear the edamame on one side (to the point of it blackening a little), and this means that it will all need to spread out evenly in a single layer in the pan as much as possible.

• If feeding little eaters, skip assembling the lettuce wraps and serve each item separately!

• For a delicious shortcut or easy way to use leftovers, skip assembling the lettuce wraps and instead, tear up the butter lettuce and use all of these ingredients to create a yummy salad.

Yield: 3-4 servings

Prep time: ~25 minutes