Lettuce Wraps

I always used to love to eat these at restaurants, but I was always a little concerned about exactly what they had in them. That’s one reason I prefer to make my own. They are quick and simple.

Ingredients:

• Lettuce (butter lettuce seems to work best)

Filling:

• 1 lb. ground chicken, turkey, or pork
• 2 cans water chestnuts, chopped fine
• 2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp. Pad Prik Khing paste (available from any Asian market)

Sauce:

• We made a sauce with oyster sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce and Sriracha sauce (aka Rooster Sauce) and a little Splenda or sugar. I am going to have to make it again before I can tell you the quantities, fellow foodies. In the meantime, be creative.
• oil (for browning the paste)

Chop your water chestnuts. Clean and slice your green onions. Heat up your skillet on medium to medium high heat.

Put 1 Tbsp. oil into the skillet. Add the Pad Prik Khing paste. (Warning — prepare for it to splatter!  That’s why we wear aprons!) Cook for one minute. Throw the water chestnuts, green onions and your ground meat into the skillet and cook until they are nicely browned. Place the mixture into your beautiful clean lettuce “cup.” Top with the sauce of your choice.

The nice thing about this particular way of making lettuce wraps is that they are very flavorful and can be eaten WITHOUT SAUCE if you choose to do so, or with just a bit of soy sauce sweetened with Splenda/sugar. (And you could throw in a little grated fresh ginger and some garlic powder. Or not.) If you eat them without the sauce, they’re not nearly as messy as the saucy restaurant variety which almost always spells doom for your attire.