Asian Lettuce Wraps

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Pillar of Nutrition Kids Cooking for Life

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Asian Lettuce Wraps

This simple recipe will impress anyone you serve it to and makes an easy dinner with nutritious ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 head butter or red leaf lettuce leaves
• 1 pound lean ground turkey or extra firm tofu, crumbled
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 cup cucumber, diced
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• Cilantro (optional) roughly chopped for garnish

Directions

1. Directions
2. Rinse the lettuce leaves. Pat dry. Be careful not to tear them. Set aside.
3. Prep the vegetables: Chop the onion, dice the carrot and cucumber and mince the garlic and the ginger. Chop green onions and cilantro (reserve some of each for your garnish).
4. Heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium to high heat. Drain and crumble the tofu, if using. Add the tofu or turkey and cook, stirring constantly, until browned and crumbly, about 6 - 7 minutes. Transfer cooked tofu or turkey to a bowl. Spoon out any grease and discard.
5. Heat the remaining 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil in the skillet. Add the chopped onion and cook until tender, about 3- 5 minutes. Add the carrots and cook for about 2 minutes.
6. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the soy sauce and the vinegar and stir to combine.
7. Add the green onions, sesame oil, and cooked tofu or turkey; stir and cook until the green onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
8. Arrange the lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter. Pile tofu or meat mixture in the center.
9. Top with diced cucumber and garnish with reserved green onion and cilantro.
10. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Variations to Try

• Add some diced water chestnuts for extra crunch!
• Try finishing the dish with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, chopped peanuts or toasted coconut. 
• Add a dash of Sriracha or Asian chili pepper sauce at step 5 for some great flavor!

Something to Chew On

• Are “water chestnuts” actually nuts?
• Not all vinegars are the same. Rice wine vinegar is mellow and sweet vs plain vinegar with a sharp, crisp taste.  
• What is the difference between mincing, chopping and dicing?
• What do we mean by “lean” protein?

Nutritional information is approximate guide only, calculated using an online nutrition calculator. The facts are based on one pancake using one tbsp of mixture. Yields about 12 -15 pancakes.

Lean on protein, Asian, tofu, chicken