Asian Lettuce Wraps – My Favorite Go-to Dinner These Days
Throughout my life, whether it be during my single days as a busy career woman, or now, as a mom of two boys, I always seem to have a favorite “go-to” dinner that I just love. It changes, based on my taste-buds, my diet, and my time limits. Lately, I have been LOVING these Asian lettuce wraps. The tangy ginger mixed with the sweet hoisin sauce gives it just the right balance. And we all know as we get older, balance is key, whether it be in your daily life, or on your plate.
The ingredient list is a bit longer than the recipes I usually come up with, but most of these ingredients I keep on-hand in my refrigerator and pantry. So when I decide to make them I usually just need to buy turkey meat, lettuce, mushrooms, water chestnuts, bean sprouts and green onions (which are optional).
These lettuce wraps make enough for four to five people, depending on everyone’s appetites. If you don’t need that much in one meal, they make great leftovers, or a satisfying snack. You can also freeze the turkey mixture in single-servings and pull them out later for a quick homemade meal. If you are making this for a family and your children’s palettes aren’t developed enough for the Asian flavors, you can always divide half of the turkey meat into another skillet and make turkey tacos for the little ones. It’s a great way to use up a pound of ground turkey for a family.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 large clove of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
- 8 ounces fresh mixed mushrooms (shitake tastes best), chopped into small dice
- 1 pound ground organic turkey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 8 ounce can chopped water chestnuts, drained
- Salt and pepper
- Bibb lettuce leaves
- Garnish: sriracha sauce, bean sprouts and chopped green onions
Instructions
- Melt coconut oil in a large saucepan or wok, on medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant. Add mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Move the mushroom mixture to the outside edges of the pan and add ground turkey.
- Turn heat to medium high and cook the turkey until cooked through, breaking with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Once the turkey is cooked, add the soy/tamari sauce and hoisin sauce. Stir together until mixed well. Stir in water chestnuts.
- Taste, and add salt and pepper, if needed.
- Take a few leaves of the bibb lettuce and place a plate. Add a couple of spoonfuls of the turkey mixture on top of each lettuce leaf.
- Garnish with sriracha sauce (if you like it spicy), bean sprouts and green onions.
