A loaf of green leaf lettuce

My favorite grocery store justed started carrying ready-to-eat green leaf lettuce. The large, deep green leaves are stacked like a loaf of bread and packaged in a recyclable plastic container. Usually I purchase a head of green leaf lettuce, rinse, pop in the salad spinner and chop for salads. But when I saw the stacked product sitting in our fridge, it inspired an out-of-the-box, healthy alternative to carb-heavy bread.

This past week I've eaten a grilled chicken sandwich with a little dill mayonnaise and tomato -- wrapped together with a big leaf of green lettuce. It was incredibly good, devoid of bread carbs and totally satisfying considering the solid source of protein. Last night we had to prepare a quick dinner (soccer season has begun!), so I whipped up some egg salad. Once again those stackable leaves were begging to be wrapped around egg salad, avocado and tomatoes. My husband was so inspired he returned his two slices of bread to the bread bag and started wrapping away. I'm not an Atkins diet fan, but this is definitely Atkins-like behavior.

Replacing two slices of our sandwich bread saved about 200 calories and 35 carbs. If you can't find ready-to-eat green leaf lettuce, just buy a head of romaine or green leaf, rinse, dry and stack yourself. It's better for the environment anyway. If you end up with leftover leaf lettuce here are over 70 leaf lettuce recipes from all recipes to peruse. Happy wrapping!