“Campbell has autism, and the changes we have made in our family’s diet— eliminating processed foods and replacing with fresh fruits, veggies, and meat—have had the most effective impact on his behavior along with ABA therapy,” says his mom, Erin. “He has embraced this new lifestyle and loves to help me cook. So when we read about this challenge, he wanted to create something new. These lettuce wraps are wonderful served warm or cold. And they have to be served with a side of blueberries and cantaloupe, which we call Campbelloupe because he eats so much of it.” - Campbell Kielb, age 8, Virginia

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 oranges
• 1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, chopped
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons Liquid Coconut Aminos (or regular soy sauce if no one is gluten- or soysensitive)
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 8 scallions, chopped, white and green slices separated
• 3 yellow bell peppers, seeded and diced
• 3 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
• 3 orange bell peppers, seeded and diced
• 3 cups warm cooked brown jasmine rice
• Romaine lettuce hearts, separated into large leaves

Preparation:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the garlic and chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Let cool, then transfer the chicken and garlic to a bowl and use a fork to shred the chicken into bite-size pieces.
2. Zest 1 orange then squeeze the juice from both oranges—you should have about 1 cup of juice total. Transfer both the zest and juice to a medium saucepan and add the water chestnuts, vinegar, honey, Liquid Aminos, ginger, crushed red pepper, and the white scallion slices. Place the saucepan over moderate heat and cook until the mixture comes to a boil, about 3 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and return the mixture to a boil, stirring to make sure the chicken is coated in the sauce. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and the greens from the scallions and cook until the peppers are tender, about 5 minutes. To serve, spoon the rice, chicken, and sauce into the romaine leaves.

219 calories; 8g protein; 46g carbohydrates; 1.3g fat (0g saturated fat); 295mg sodium

More information about the Kids' State Dinner:

• Check out the other winning 2013 Kids' State Dinner Recipes here.
• Learn more about Kids' State Dinner here.