Lettuce Wraps

On our travels, we come across different types of cuisine which give me ideas of new things to try and play around with. These lettuce wraps are one such idea. When in Florida, there’s a restaurant we enjoy called 26 Tapas that has myriad appetizers and Peruvian cuisine. DH and I tried the lettuce wraps (it was with fish as it’s a dairy/fish restaurant). We both loved them and the idea of the lettuce as the “bread” of the sandwich so to speak, keeps it lighter. This brought me to the idea of using a meat filling, balancing the lighter lettuce with the somewhat heavier meat filling and yet, you get a clean eating feeling from this combo.

We were both very pleased with the results and it’s definitely an add on to our menus. You can have these as appetizers to a meal or use large lettuce leaves and make it a light main dish, as you please.

I played around with the sauce incorporated into the chopped beef and it was succulent enough for the mama to say, great flavor Debbie! a triumph for me, as Mom is not wont to say such things 🙂 .

So on to our ingredients.

Take your onion and chop medium to fine and sautee in the oil till light brown. Add the chopped meat and break it up with the edge of your spoon or fork sauteeing and crumbling till cooked through and no longer pink.

Now make the sauce in a pan large enough to then add the meat and onions to.

In the pan, stir together the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, sesame oil and vinegar, cooking briefly together till heated through and then transfer the onion/beef mixture and combine completely with the sauce. You shouldn’t take more than a few minutes with this. This will be served either straight from the pan or room temperature. The beef absorbs the sauce and is moist but not dripping with sauce, that’s correct. When ready to serve, take your washed and dried lettuce leaves and place on plates. Scoop the beef mixture into the leaves, sprinkle with grated (or julienned) carrot and sprinkle the peanuts on top. Now you can eat these by rolling into a biteable bite or use a knife and fork as you wish. Delicious!

Lettuce Wraps

1 pound (approximately 1/2 a kilo) ground beef
1 medium onion, peeled, and chopped
2-3 tablespoons canola oil
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped or crushed (frozen or fresh)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons vinegar (rice vinegar or cider)
1 carrot, peeled and grated or julienned
handful of roasted peanuts, skins removed and lightly chopped or broken into halves

washed and dried lettuce leaves of your choice (try to find tender ones for better eating)

Directions:

In the oil, sautee the onion till lightly browned and add the ground beef, cutting and sauteeing with a fork or spoon, cooking into crumbles until no longer pink and cooked through. In another pan, combine the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, sesame oil and vinegar, stir and cook just till hot about 2 or so minutes. Add the beef and onion mixture and cook briefly together till the beef absorbs the sauce but is still moist. If eating immediately, divide the lettuce leaves on to plates and scoop the beef mixture (serve this off the pan or room temp) onto the leaves, sprinkle with the carrot and the peanuts. Good as either an appetizer or a light main dish.