Sometimes there’s nothing quite like sitting back with a carton of greasy Chinese takeout after a hard day of work. In fact, one of my first orders of business when I move to a new place is usually finding out which local restaurants deliver.
What’s easier than placing an order, reading off your credit card number, changing into your pajamas, putting on some Sex and the City reruns, and waiting on your food to arrive?
Not much.
Unfortunately, ordering takeout also makes it just as easy to pack on the pounds.
Once I faced up to the fact that I might actually have to get off the couch to make dinner if I still intended on fitting into my jeans, I discovered that it is actually really simple (and a whole lot healthier) to recreate takeout meals at home.
Chinese: General Tsao Tofu, Sweet & Sour Chicken with Brown Rice, and Kung Pao Chicken
Italian: Margherita Pizza, Turkey Sausage Calzone, and Baked Chicken Parmesan
Greek: Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, Greek Dinner Salad, and Homemade Greek Pizza
Indian: Roasted Red Kuri Coconut Curry Soup, Saag Tofu, and Curried Chickpeas and Black Beans
Mexican: Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps, Chicken-Mushroom Quesadillas, and Chicken Tacos (see below)
Chicken Tacos
Serves 6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
2 cloves, garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound lean chicken breast, cut into strips
3 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
12 small whole wheat tortillas
For the salsa:
Ingredients
1 medium English cucumber, diced
2 medium avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 red onion, diced
Juice of 2 limes
Salt, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions: Coat a large skillet with olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Combine cayenne, Tabasco, garlic, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Toss the chicken strips in the mixture to coat. Place the chicken in the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned. Combine all of the ingredients for the salsa in a medium bowl and serve within an hour of preparing, to keep avocado from browning.
Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 45 seconds by placing in between two damp paper towels.
Place the chicken, coleslaw mix or cabbage, cilantro, and salsa in serving dishes for making the tacos.
If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you may want to substitute black beans for the chicken. I’m sure it would taste delicious!
After making a few versions of takeout meals on your own, you might actually find that you prefer how much fresher they taste and like how they don’t put you in a full-on food coma for hours.
You just might even take that pizza delivery guy off speed dial- unless he’s cute of course.
