Asian Lettuce Wraps
This is my own recipe. Several years ago, my hubby came home raving about the lettuce wraps at PF Changs, and asked if I could duplicate them. Probably not, I told him, but I might be able to get somewhat close. Later, after I had developed this recipe, I found where someone had posted the actual PF Changs recipe on the internet. Mine is not nearly as complicated, but it sure is tasty! I prefer my simple recipe, which uses ingredients easily found in the grocery store. My son loves this, and chooses to mix his with rice instead of wrapping in lettuce leaves.
Ingredients:
8 whole lettuce leaves, preferrably large and wide, such as Butter, Boston Bibb, or Iceberg, washed and dried
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 package lean ground turkey
2-3 tbsp hoisin sauce (this can be found in the Asian food aisle of the grocery store)
1-2 tbsp garlic-chili sauce (also in the Asian food aisle)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped to uniform small pea size
3-4 green onions, thinly sliced, including green part
Couple drizzles soy sauce (I use reduced sodium)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Sesame seeds for garnish
Optional: fresh pea pods, sauteed in sesame oil until crisp-tender
Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add turkey. Break meat up with a spatula or spoon as it cooks, so that you don't have large chunks, but a fine, even crumble. Drain fat and return skillet to medium heat. Add hoisin and garlic-chili sauces and stir to incorporate completely. The turkey meat should look like it has a glaze over it, but it should not be "saucy". Start with 1 tbsp. of each sauce and add as necessary. Watch out- the garlic chili sauce is spicy, so don't add too much!
When you are happy with the turkey/sauce ratio, add the water chestnuts and green onions, and mix well into the meat mixture. Drizzle soy sauce (I go once around the pan) and mix in well. Heat over medium heat for a few minutes until the meat sizzles gently. Don't overheat and dry out the meat mixture. Add a little more soy sauce if it seems too dry. Turn off heat and add cilantro, incorporating well into meat mixture.
Serve immediately, or make ahead and refrigerate, then reheat in the microwave to serve. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each lettuce leaf and sprinkle with sesame seeds. If you also sauteed the suggested pea pods, add those on top before the sesame seeds. I also sometimes add bean sprouts to the pea pod sautee.
These are delicious- sweet and smokey from the hoisin sauce, and a little bit of a spicy bite from the garlic chili. You can use ground turkey breast to keep these very lowfat, but if you use regular ground turkey instead of ground turkey breast, don't use turkey that is less than 93% lean. If you use a leaner meat, these are quite healthy. The hoisin sauce contains only 35 calories and 8 grams of sugar per tablespoon. This recipe makes 8 servings, so even if you use 3 full tablespoons of hoisin in the dish, it's only 3 grams of sugar per serving.
Sundried Tomato and Goat Cheese Toast
This is also my recipe. Several years ago, my husband and I spent our annivesary weekend at the Skamania Lodge in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. At dinner in their restaurant, we ordered a goat cheese appetizer that we both just loved. Soft, warm rounds of goat cheese were served with pita bread wedges, sundried tomatoes, roasted garlic, and kalamata olives. We liked it so much, we made it at home a couple of times. Eventually, I decided it would be easier to combine our favorite components into a spread, and this is the result. I originally tried it with the kalamata olives included, but they make the consistency too watery. If desired, serve them alongside these toasts.
Ingredients:
1 14 oz. log of goat cheese (I get mine at Costco)
3/4 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and rinsed well
4-6 cloves fresh garlic
1 french baguette, sliced thinly
Lay baguette slices on baking sheet and spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray. Broil until lightly toasted, then turn bread slices and repeat on the other side. Be careful not to let edges brown too much.
Take goat cheese out of refrigerator and let sit out at room temperature. Peel garlic cloves and wrap in foil. Put into a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until soft and tender.
Crumble goat cheese into food processor and add garlic and sundried tomatoes. Process until smoothe.
Spread a couple tbsp. of goat cheese mixture on each slice of toasted bread, then put under the broiler until cheese has warmed and just began to brown. Serve immediately.
This can be made ahead and refrigerated. Remove cheese from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving so that it can soften.
The lettuce wraps look great. I'm curious about using oil to cook the ground turkey. We usually just brown it without oil and then drain. Does it come out differently when you use oil?
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! I usually just use a little bit of oil, mostly because turkey tends to be more dry than ground beef, and I don't want to dry it out when it cooks. I do this with any lean meat I cook as a rule, because the oil is what helps caramelize the meat. You don't get a lot of caramalization in this dish though, so if it works for you to cook without oil, I'm sure it would still be fine. Please let me know how you like it if you try it!
ReplyDeleteI made it tonight and it was really yummy. I didn't have any sesame seeds or cilantro so I skipped those. I just cooked the meat like I usually do without oil and added some minced garlic/ginger after draining it. I followed the rest of the recipe pretty much as written, except I used regular hot sauce instead of garlic chili sauce. My husband really liked it too as did my older son. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteI will have to try the lettuce wrap. Oddly I have almost everything in it here in the house..weird and it looks yummy. I will have to get soft taco shells though for the kids as there is no way I can convince them to eat lettuce.
ReplyDelete