The world seems to have gone mad for carb-free food, so this recipe is inspired by you out there.
I constantly crave the flavours of Mexican cuisine and this recipe ticks this box in a big way.
Packed with flavour, it leaves you feeling rather angelic as it’s virtually devoid of any fat or carbohydrates.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the crunch factor. When you shroud your spicy chicken strips and salsa in a crispy lettuce leaf the whole thing becomes a texture adventure with a mingling of hot and cold, raw and cooked and is pretty much a perfect meal.
I have kept things fairly healthy here and excluded grated cheese and sour cream from the toppings. You can of course add this to make it even more indulgent.
Recipe
400g of skinless chicken breast cut into fairly thin strips
splash of olive oil to fry these in
1 x red onion finely sliced
1 x 400g tin of tomatoes (whole or chopped)
1 T of finely chopped chipotle in adobo sauce (or substitute with finely chopped pickled jalapeno chillis and a pinch of dried chilli flakes)
1/2 t cumin
pinch of brown sugar and salt and pepper to season
lettuce leaves to make your tacos (I like to use butter lettuce or baby gem lettuce)
fresh coriander leaves
sliced pickled jalapeno chillies
slices of avocado or make a guacamole
fresh tomatoes and slices of spring onion to make a rustic salsa – as much as you need. I used about 2 cups of quartered rosa / cherry tomatoes and sliced red spring onions. I tossed these together with lots of salt and pepper.
lime wedges to spritz
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and quickly fry your chicken pieces until they turn golden. Set aside.
In the same pan, add another small splash of olive oil and fry your onion until it softens. Add your tomatoes, cumin, sugar and chipotle and simmer for around 15 – 25 minutes until the tomato sauce starts to thicken around the edges of the pan.
Add the chicken back into the sauce and allow to cook for about 5 minutes.
Assemble all the elements to make your ‘tacos’ in separate bowls and serve so that every one can make up their own. I like to give the chicken a good spritz of lime juice. This freshens things up and amplifies the flavours.
Quickie lime-ade recipe: great for a hot day
I enjoyed these spicy treats on a very hot day with some home made lime-ade.
1 cup lime juice to 1
cup water and one cup sugar – this makes a concentrate.
Dissolve the sugar in the water (boil it first to make the sugar dissolve quickly) and
when dissolved and cooled, add the lime juice.
Add water to taste as this is a concentrate.
Pour over ice and enjoy!
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