Low - Carb Mexican Turkey Burgers

For Lent I give up carbs! Yes very, very harsh I know.

But then I heard on the radio that you can have whatever you give up for Lent, on a Sunday.
Doing some research and you won't believe it, it is totally true!
31 years of age and I never knew this. I feel like I have been robbed.

Anyways I made these on a no-carb day, and wowzers I didn't miss the big soft bun in anyway.
Okay maybe a little, but not as half much as I thought.

Food: Mexican Style Chicken and Rice, with Guacamole, and Lime and Chilli Corn on the Cobs.

On a Sunday afternoon I love to stick a load of food on the the table, get my eat on with the fambo, whilst having a good ole gab.

As it's the peak of Summer, the obligatory Sunday roast is a bit much on a hot sunny day.
So ya know, what screams Summer more than the fresh flavours, and ingredients from the Mexican cuisine?

These ingredients are even more so special, when left to mingle with each other. A time-saving trick for this dish, and one that you are grateful for the next day, in terms of cutting down the time spent slaving over a hot stove, but still creating a finger licking dish - is marinating the chicken.

It takes less than 5 minutes to do,  it gets shoved in the fridge, left overnight, and the flavours that develop over this time, well it helps to create a gorgeous tasty feast, in less than 20 minutes.

The recipe is as follows:

Food: Bean & Vegetable Tacos

Mexican food is on another level, the ingredients and spices they use are just on point. I recreated a famous dish that everyone knows, made it low-fat and packed it full of nutritious and tasty ingredients. Please feel free to add meat if you want, but for me it really isn't needed.

Food || Mexican Chicken Lettuce Trays!

Gathering family and friends round for food and feeding them up is one of my favourite past times. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, I love how It brings everyone together to settle down and get their munch on, whilst having a good gab and a laugh.

With Summer (yes Summer I said, not that it feels like we are EVER going to see the sun anytime soon) and the idea of squeezing into a bikini just around the corner eeeeeek most of my friends are on diets moaning about their weight! (Oh yes, and me too)  So this weekend when it came to food, not wanting to be blamed for any pesky weight gains, I decided to keep the food as low fat as possible. But never, ever jeopardising the flavour.

The idea for these little delights just sprung into my head one night (don't you just love when that happens?) and they was a hit. I LOVE Mexico and hope to travel back one day (plus the Doritos Mexican themed adverts are just bloody marvellous) The cuisine incorporates all the flavours and ingredients I love!  

This is my version of the "taco" dish minus the taco shell.

Mexican Chicken served in Gem Lettuce Trays

Ingredients.

400g diced Chicken breast

Smoked Paprika

3 crushed Garlic cloves

2 Lemons or Limes

Salt and Pepper

Gem lettuce (around 25 leaves will serve 6 people)

1 Avocado

Dried Thyme  

5 tablespoons of Sweetcorn

10 Cherry Tomato's diced small.

Tomato salsa

Sour cream

Fresh Parsley to garnish

Method

Dice the chicken breast into small bite size strips. Squeeze a full lemon over the chicken, a tablespoon of smoked paprika, three crushed garlic cloves, tablespoon of dried thyme and salt and pepper mix up well and leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours.

Separate the gem lettuce leaves, wash and put to one side. 

Just before you fry the chicken. Cube an avocado, dice cherry tomatoes and mix in the sweetcorn. Squeeze some lemon over, season and put to one side.

Fry chicken in a little olive oil until it's crispy and golden. Around 10 minutes. Load a tablespoon of the chicken into the Gem lettuce tray and then spoon some of the avocado mix over the chicken. Carry on until all lettuce trays are loaded. Dollop a teaspoon of salsa and sour cream in each tray. Garnish with parsley or coriander and lemon wedges and da,daaaaa (jazz hands) it's done.

All my friends tried and LOVED them! I served with sweet potato wedges some dips and some bread for the non dieting ladies! A beautiful colourful and tasty dish as we are moving into the summer months,and one that you won't feel guilty about devouring. Result. 

Will you give these a try?