Eating the same old tuna salad in a romaine lettuce leaf has quickly risen to the top of my list of, “Things I never want to have for lunch again.” Yet, when I am trying to squeeze my Omega-3’s into my meal plan, I only think tuna for lunch or salmon for dinner. I blame my mother for packing my tuna salad sandwiches for lunch every Friday of my childhood. So there I was, packing tuna and mayo in a lettuce leaf or on a salad and hating my lunch…until now!

Utilizing the simplicity of canned salmon and the distinct flavor of fresh lemon and herbs, I’ve completely changed my lettuce wrap game! First of all, I love using Boston lettuce for this wrap because it is much more “eater” friendly than your typical collard green or romaine variety. The lettuce cups pop right off of the core and are sturdy enough to handle the massive hunks of salmon.

Each cup is filled with canned salmon, fantastically fatty avocado, spicy purple onion and a sprinkling of Parmesan. Then you can smear, slather or dip your wrap in this beautifully fragrant mayo spread comprised of fresh chopped basil, garlic, lemon juice, and mayonnaise. By keeping the sauce separate from the filling you can make these ahead of time without the risk of soggy lettuce cups!

Yields 2 servings of Salmon Lettuce Cups with Lemony Basil Spread

The Preparation

2 large boston lettuce leaves
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 ounce fresh basil, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
5 ounces canned pink salmon, drained
1/2 medium avocado, cubed
1 ounce red onion, sliced
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, shaved

The Execution

1. Clean and prepare your lettuce cups by gently rinsing and snapping the leaves from the core.

2. Make the spread by combining the lemon juice, finely chopped basil, and garlic powder. Stir to evenly coat the basil leaves with the seasoning.

3. Add mayonnaise and mix well. Set aside to let the flavor come together!

4. Fill the lettuce cups with ½ cup of salmon each, followed by the cubed avocado and onion slices.

5. Spread the basil mayo (about 2 tbsp per serving) on the salmon and top with Parmesan cheese. Or, portion out the spread to dip each bite!

This makes a total of 2 servings of Salmon Lettuce Cups with Lemony Basil Spread. Each serving comes out to be 393 calories, 32.9g fats, 3.3g net carbs, and 18.1g protein.

NUTRITION	CALORIES	FAT	CARBS	FIBER	NET CARBS	PROTEIN
2 large boston lettuce leaves	4	0.1	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.4
1 teaspoon lemon juice	1	0	0.3	0	0.3	0
1/4 ounce fresh basil	2	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder	5	0	1.2	0.1	1	0.3
4 tablespoon mayonnaise	374	41.2	0.3	0	0.3	0.5
5 ounce canned pink salmon	183	7	0	0	0	27.9
1/2 medium avocado	150	13.9	7.8	6.1	1.7	1.8
1 ounce red onion	12	0.1	2.9	0.4	2.5	0.4
2 tablespoon parmesan cheese	54	3.6	0.5	0	0.5	4.8
Totals	785	65.8	13.8	7.1	6.6	36.3
Per Serving (/2)	393	32.9	6.9	3.6	3.3	18.2