Cranberry Chicken Salad Stuffed Cabbage

super crunchy!

I am always looking for ways to eliminate the bread in my lunch, frankly because I love pasta. I'd rather take the "budget" for my lunch and "spend" it on dinner. I also love using cabbage for a leafy crunch whether it be in tacos, cold wraps or hot dishes because it's a hardy green that doesn't seem to wilt easily when exposed to other foods or sauces.

I made a simple chicken salad and dressed it up a bit.

The key to this dish is blanching the cabbage leaves before you try to construct them. I fill a large skillet with lightly salted water, bring to a boil and have a large bowl of ice water nearby. Dip the cabbage leaves into the boiling water for about 20-30 seconds, just enough to make pliable. Immediately place them in the ice water bowl. This will stop the cooking process almost instantaneously. It will also enable you to wrap the leaves without breaking them. They hold up extremely well, even after biting into them. I had enough "salad" in this to stuff about 4 large cabbage leaves.

You will need:

4 cabbage leaves
1 - 4 oz piece of chicken breast
1 Tbsp reduced fat mayonnaise
1/8 C dried craisins
1 tsp lemon rind
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 medium celery stalk
1 scallion
pepper, to taste
paprika, to taste

Boil the chicken and either shred or chop finely, whichever you prefer and set aside. Finely chop celery and scallion. Stir in mayo, lemon rind, craisins, chia,  pepper & paprika, to taste. Gradually add in chicken. Spoon into center of cabbage leaves and roll the back end first, then starting at one side, fold over. Lay seam-side down.

Each recipe above yields approxmiately:
Calories: 300
Fat: 9g
Carbs: 28g
Protein: 26g