Healthy Thai Lettuce Wraps

Monday, January 9, 2012

Happy Day! The weather has been so strangely wonderful. (besides today's rain)

One of my goals this year is to make delicious, healthy food. I mean, I can do some damage in the kitchen with a few sticks of butter and a jar of heavy cream, but I'm on a fitness campaign so I'm pushing myself to cook better.

Sometimes when I'm cooking dinner, I get stuck with the same recipes. So the last year or so I've been thinking, "what do I love to eat in restaurants?" and then I go home and try to recreate it. The only problem, is I love international food the most. Thai, Vietnamese, Indian etc... which can be a little more difficult to navigate.

I had a cooking lesson in Malaysia when I was 18, and I've wanted to brush up on my Asian skills so I started with the basics of things my family likes, Pad Thai, Panang Curry, noodle dishes etc... but  I'm taking it to a whole new level. I can't wait to work on some new recipes.

All to say, one of my favorite Thai things to eat is Mee Krob. So I studied a few recipes and created a healthy version with no fried noodles. Instead I added shredded broccoli and carrot on the top for crunch and I didn't even miss the fried noodle!

It's nice to take a trip to the Asian Market to get some authentic ingredients, I photographed the sauces above so you could see which ones I like. I'm sure most grocery stores sell these though.

You are going to see how easy and delicious this is! I'm serious. As you can see above even my little girl loved them sans lettuce. She also loved to eat handfuls of chili sauce. And since we photograph things outside, a lot of other things ended up in her mouth as I was feverishly photographing and styling.

You could eat this for dinner, paired with brown rice, and again for lunch as a salad. AND for those with extra spice in their blood don't forget about the Sriracha.

Enjoy!

lean ground turkey
water chestnuts (diced)
Hearts of Romaine Lettuce (fresh and crispy)
fresh ginger
garlic (optional) - I can't eat a lot of garlic, so I opted not
shredded broccoli & carrot (julienne)


low sodium soy sauce
tempura dipping sauce
teriyaki sauce
sweet asian chili sauce

Directions:
Start with a little oil and cut ginger in a skillet on high for a few minutes. Add the lean ground turkey in skillet with a little bit of oil. Add low sodium  soy sauce, splash of teriyaki sauce and tempura sauce as the turkey is cooking. Add diced water chestnuts. Make sure the meat ends up crumbled and not in large masses.

Assemble washed Romaine leaves, trimming bottom ends.

Spoon Ground Turkey mixture in lettuce leaf, garnish with shredded carrots and broccoli, drizzle with sweet chili sauce and tempura dipping sauce.

The sweet chili and tempura dipping sauce are deliciously "necessary" for every individual cup! You can also chop up the lettuce and mix everything in as a salad if you don't like assembling and holding the cups. (but it's so great that way)

Enjoy!