I have a bit of writer’s block this week. These foodie posts are not making me jump up & down with excitement. I like to make stuff with my hands, but cooking is more of a necessity than a jump-for-joy kind of experience these days. It used to be a lot more enjoyable…before I had a little one tugging on my leg & begging for a bite of raw ginger every two minutes. (she didn’t like it!!)
I used to cook to clear my head & enjoy the art of food. Most of these recipes were collected when I had plenty of time to enjoy cooking. These days, dinnertime is when cranky caroline comes out to play & it is quite challenging. Mostly because she does not watch TV, so I have to find something to distract her. (correction: she watches one 13 minute half-episode of Wonder Pets on the iPad every day, usually during the time I am cleaning up dinner, because then I can have the kitchen totally clean by the time I take her up for a bath.) Normally, I end up with a mess of kitchen utensils strewn around my house, because I hand them to her to play with every time she pops over for a visit. A whisk & a pot can be a lifesaver! I can’t wait for the day she is interested in cooking.
Now…onto the tasty Turkey Lettuce Wrap!
SALT. Do you like it? Do you always add it? I became hyper aware of salt when I began feeding caroline solids. Salt is a very bad thing for babies, and as we began feeding her more table food, I began cutting it out of everything I possibly could. We consume very little salt, and this recipe helped me understand just how much we are sensitive to it now. I never noticed it before, but even with low-sodium soy-sauce, these lettuce wraps were a bit salty for us. I think I am going to have to see what I can do to cut some of it out next batch. But I have been making these for YEARS & unless you are salt-sensitive, you will probably think they taste just fine.
STIR-FRIED TURKEY LETTUCE WRAP
Found in Everyday Food Mag HERE.
Yield: 4 servings (we ate two wraps each & caroline ate some meat)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 4 teaspoons fish sauce
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped (a shallot is like an onion/garlic hybrid—FAB)
- 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 pound ground turkey (93 percent lean)
- 2 large heads Bibb, Boston, or iceberg lettuce, leaves separated
Preparation
- In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Set sauce aside. (I doubled the sauce this time, but really did not need to)
- Heat a large skillet or wok over high until hot. Add oil and swirl to coat skillet. Add shallot, ginger, garlic, and chile and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add turkey and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until almost cooked through, 5 minutes. Add half the sauce to skillet and stir until meat is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Serve in lettuce leaves with remaining sauce.
Warning: DO NOT smell the fish sauce (ok, now I know you are all going to do it, just to see) but seriously, this stuff smells nasty, but tastes delicious when mixed into a sauce like this. You’ve been warned!
Below, right is what I had left to clean up after everything was in the wok. Easy peasy. Note: my trash square. BTW, my dear friend Erica sent me a text pic with her genius “counter top trash” in the form of a produce bag used to hold her veggies. She re-purposed it & saved herself a paper towel. LOVE that idea! Thanks, Erica!
This one can also be used as an appetizer, or as a side to a noodly Asian dish. :)
& two kitchen tools I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT:
Burnished Bamboo Spatula. This is close to mine, but not exact. Mine is about 5 years old from Sur La Table.
Calphalon Nonstick Wok I use this for almost all my Asian dishes (& my hubby is Asian, so I make a LOT!) :)
Are you still enjoying these posts? Shall I keep them coming? I’d love your feedback–& the “like” button below helps me know what you think! Do tell!
Up next: Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches (loaded with veggies!)