Collard green leaves are big like a tortilla; a perfect gluten free way to make salad eat like a sandwich! Crisp, fresh and nutritious; even picnic worthy as there isn’t any mayo to worry about. It’s soooooo colorful and all the flavors of Southeast Asia come to life and harmonize. Layered purple cabbage, red bell pepper, cucumber and cilantro with turkey for a bit of protein and a great backup singer to the group; subtle and a little salty. I have been making a couple sauces while I am on this flavor profile and decided to use them both here! Say hello to Pickled Bahn Mi veggies and rich red Thai curry cashew cream sauce the lead singers in this fusion band!
You know I love food, I absolutely LOVE flavor. Eating “healthy” means “boring” I think to many of us at times. It just doesn’t have to be that way, it isn’t in my kitchen that’s for sure. I need to make my food appealing to my husband too. He isn’t super picky and he loves to try new things. Chad will tell me if it’s a hit or a miss, he is a Sunday rib eye steak with scalloped potatoes, asparagus and Hawaiian roll kind of guy. He has been a trooper through all these pantry changes. I have swapped out the white table sugar, the breads, crackers and cheeses for alternatives I find are just overall better on the body. There are some that still don’t quite have that perfect texture to fool the palette. It’s totally cool if he wants real cheese or a good ol real deal tortilla. Overall, he and I are making small adjustments for the greater good.
When I am up against removing (or greatly reducing) something from my food world if I tell myself never again! No! Bad! You can’t have that…I set myself up for complete and utter epic failure. I will not only binge on the said food, I will do it out of spite. No one- not even my emotional self is gonna tell me I can’t have something I want!
What does work for me is that I just have a conversation with myself and it goes a little like this;
Emotional self; aaaaaaaahhh…. I want xyz and I NEED it NOW! This…is…happening.
Rational self; hmmm, really? You may want it but do you really need it? You can have xyz, you can have xyz anytime you want. You can make the choice to have it or not too.
Emotional self; wow I do have a choice; and I choose not to have it right now. I can always have it another time if I want!
Rational self; nice moves kid- keep on truckin; you got this!!
That conversation has helped me tremendously; I just don’t do absolutes. There may come a time when I do indeed cut something completely out of my life but by the time I do the paradigm shift has already happened. It becomes an afterthought, change happens slow to work long term. Allow them all to happen on your own time 😊
Recipe
1 b collard greens
1 6 oz Applegate organics oven roasted turkey breast
½ head red Cabbage
1 red bell pepper
1 Japanese cucumber
1 b cilantro
1 c Bahn Mi pickled veggies
1 c red Thai curry cashew cream sauce
Prepare
- Lay the collard greens out flat and cut the bottom stem off below the leaf. Shred the cabbage, julienne the red pepper, slice the cucumber on the bias, loosely chop the cilantro leaves leaving out the stems.
- Get all the ingredients out on a large cutting board or surface and have your dining plates nearby. Lay out a collard green so the stem line is horizontal to you. Layer 2 slices of turkey, a nice smattering of cabbage, pepper, cucumber, cilantro and top with the bahn mi veggies.
- Think burrito and start wrapping the leaf side closest to you around the mix, fold if you can and continue to roll all the way keeping the wrap held tightly together.
- Cut the roll on the bias and serve with the cashew cream on the side and a dipper, the pickling liquid is nice on the side too. This was the wrap will stay crunchy and not get soggy on you.
Tips
- If you want more turkey bay all means add some!
- These warps hold up for days in the fridge, cut and put in airtight bags. I have these babies for lunch over a few days and they were perfect every time
Time 20 minutes
Makes 4-5 wraps served with about 2 T of dip for each wrap