Veggie Wraps.

My "wedding diet" really wasn't a diet. Basically, the man and I wanted to make a life change to be healthier. Of course, shedding some pounds was a by-product of that, so no complaints here. However, anyone who has either gone on a diet or made a serious diet overhaul knows that it is difficult to come up with menu options that are easy, filling and healthful. The desire to add butter (YUM) or cream to things can sometimes me overwhelming just to make that meal stick to your ribs.

However, a very cool friend of mine who has been very successful at making a big lifestyle change offered up this recipe that, while sounding simple and unexciting, is absolutely delicious. Both my husband and I enjoy this tremendously.

Ingredients:
-1 bell pepper (orange or red makes for a prettier mix, but I've used green too)
-1 zucchini
-1 yellow squash
-1/2 red onion

(Marinade)

-1/4 cup lime juice

-1/4 cup olive oil

-1 T. garlic

-1 T. Worchestershire sauce

-1 T. chili powder

-1 1/2 tsp. cumin

-1 tsp. pepper

-salt

How to:
-Chop all vegetables into thin, fajita-like strips.
-Mix together marinade ingredients.
-Pour marinade on veggies and let them marinate for about 15 minutes. (Longer is OK too.)
-Sautee veggies with the marinade until they're cooked through to your liking.

Serve with a can of black beans, drained. We also like low-fat sour cream (or low-fat Greek yogurt works really well too) and light grated cheese too. Salsa also works well with this dish.

With the black beans and additions, we can get two dinners (for two) out of this recipe.

My friend likes to keep this virtually carb free (aside from the beans) by serving a la PF Chang's lettuce wraps by using iceberg lettuce as wraps. This is a great option, but can be messy. My lettuce does not peel off as well as they do it at P.F. Chang's, I will tell you that. But it's very tasty.

The first time, we didn't have iceberg lettuce, so we made up some quinoa and treated it more like a burrito bowl. That was mighty tasty too. Use whole wheat quinoa and feel good about the carbs.

(P.S. I do not lead a carb free existence. I just like to save my "bad carbs" for the really good stuff!)