Asian Lettuce Wraps

This is a new favorite, I actually repeated it in the same month.  I've made it with ground turkey and ground chicken.  Both are good.  You feel so refreshed and healthy after eating this.  Leftovers are great for lunch.  The first time I made it I used romaine rather than iceberg lettuce.  The second time I used iceberg and it was added an element of crispness that really added to the dish.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 

2 tsp canola oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 lb ground chicken*

3 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped (about 8 small mushrooms)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

4 C bagged coleslaw mix or thinly shredded cabbage

1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained, rinsed, and finely minced

1/2 C thinly sliced green onions

4 Tbs soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3-4 Tbs juice)

1/2-1 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce (1 tsp of Sriracha is fairly spicy in my opinion, so if you want less or no kick, just give it a little, or you can leave it out completely)

1/3 C roughly chopped cilantro

1-2 heads iceberg lettuce

*To prepare your own ground chicken, cut boneless skinless chicken breasts into large chunks and pulse in a food processor until ground.

Dipping/Drizzling Sauce

4 Tbs soy sauce

4 Tbs rice vinegar

3 Tbs water

2 tsp honey

1-2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger

Directions:

Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top.  When hot, add vegetable  oil and then garlic and ginger.  Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through.  (*At this point, sometimes I have some extra liquid in the pan from the chicken.  If it’s quite a bit, I tilt the pan and spoon it out so the chicken can cook and not boil.) Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions.  Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt.  Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste.  Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.

To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce.  (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!)  Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce.

Yield: about 5 C chicken mixture.  Makes 14-16 lettuce wraps.

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