Healthy Lettuce Fajitas

Try swapping out tortillas for lettuce leaves. This simple change will really help you on your health journey and boost your daily fruit and veg tally at the same time. O.k, so you'll have to eat quite a lot of lettuce leaves to get an 80g portion, but it all helps. Lettuce is often overlooked as being rather dull but this recipe really adds a tasty kick to the green stuff. Lettuce is a source of protein, fibre, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, thiamin, riboflavin and vitamins B-6, C, A, E and K. So much nutrition from such a simple looking leaf!

Ingredients

• 1 gem lettuce;
• 500g of minced chicken;
• 2 Tablespoons of mint leaves, chopped;
• 2 tablespoons of coriander, chopped;
• 2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped;
• 1 teaspoon of salt;
• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper;
• Handful of grated Parmesan (optional);
• 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms;
• 1/2 cup of tomatoes;
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped celery;
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped onions;
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil;
• Handful of pomegranate seeds (optional).

Method

1. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan.
2. Fry the onions and celery until soft, then stir in the herbs and cook for another 30 seconds or so.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and mushrooms and cook until you achieve a paste-like consistency.
4. Add the mince, season with the salt and pepper, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring regularly.
5. Set aside.
6. Wash gem lettuce leaves, then pat dry to retain crispness.
7. Spoon the mince into the leaves and sprinkle with Parmesan and pomegranate, if desired.

For more ideas on hitting your fruit and veg quota, please take a look at my 25 Tips for your 10-a-day article