Healthy Asian Food! Wontons and Lettuce Wraps!

Happy Sunday everyone! I had such a craving for asian food, but we have all been eating so healthy in my house lately, that I wanted to try to figure out a way to have asian flavors, without breaking the calorie/carb/fat bank. Here are two recipes that came out great and pleased the tastebuds - Baked Avocado Wontons and Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps!

For the Avocado Wontons you will need:

2 large avocados, diced
the juice of 1 lime
4oz. low fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbs cilantro, chopped
pinch red pepper flakes
1 package fresh wonton sheets (can be found near the tofu in the produce section)

In a medium bowl, mix your diced avocado, lime juice, cream cheese, onion, garlic and red pepper flakes.

On a clean work surface, lay out one wonton sheet. Dip your finger in water and coat two edges of the sheet lightly. This will help your wonton sheet stick to itself.

Place a small amount of your filling in the center of the sheet. Try not to overfill it, because it will then be harder to seal.

This might even be a little too much.. Oh well! :) 

Fold up the wonton sheet to form a triangle, pinching along the edges. Then taking the two longer points of the triangle, fold them back to touch at the points and pink. My wonton package actually shows you how to do this - so check on yours!

Place on a baking sheet and spray gently with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Serve hot with Thai chili sauce!

So that was the appetizer round - now for the main event! These lettuce wraps were very flavorful, without the guilt of traditional Chinese food.

For the lettuce wraps, you will need:

1lb ground chicken
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ginger
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of cooked rice
4 oz. sliced water chestnuts, finely chopped
3 scallions, chopped
1 head iceberg lettuce
Optional: Sriracha sauce


Begin by cooking your chicken in a large pot until no longer pink.

In your crock pot, add your chicken, bell pepper, onion, garlic, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and let sit on LOW for 2 hours.

When you are ready to serve, add your rice, water chestnuts and scallions.

Serve with iceberg lettuce and Sriracha hot sauce!

These dishes may be out of your comfort zone - they were definitely new for me - but give them a try, you might surprise yourself! Enjoy - and let me know of any other guilty favorites that you would like to see made healthier! I will try to help you out! Have a great week everyone! 

Congratulations to the Saint Joseph's Hawks on winning the A-10 Championship 

and good luck this week in the NCAA tournament! THWND!