Music is a memory maker. I’m sure almost everyone, across almost every culture, has memories inspired by song. A few bars of a melody can instantly evoke mental images of an old love, a great party, or even an entire era in one’s life.
Food works the same way for me. Ask what I ordered for dinner the first time I treated my daughter to dinner at Donatellos in Toronto and I’ll launch into a detailed description of each course. Biting into the summer’s first sun-warmed tomato from my garden instantly transports me to the backyard garden of my childhood.
Hard-shelled tacos, gyros, and other slippery, slidey, difficult to manipulate finger foods conjure memories of my little brother sitting at our yellow-flowered, tablecloth-cloaked kitchen table, nearly imploding over his BLT falling apart for the third time. Little hands – big sandwich? Delayed development of motor skills? Who knows; but the memory is so ingrained my mom and I still poke fun today, nearly forty years later. Oy! Such a tragedy!
Needless to say, lettuce wraps fall into this trauma-inducing category. I’d wager that even as an adult Sam would STILL avoid these. They slip – they slide – the filling plops uncermoniously on the plate. BUT – who cares! They’re so easy and delicious, what’s a little schmutz on your shirt or sauce dripping down your pinkie finger?
If you’re truly put off by messy foods, make a salad of these ingredients and use your fork because these are simply too yummy to pass by!
I add brown rice to my wrap filling. I like the added vitamins and fiber, and I don’t mind that it takes a meat-intensive dish down a notch on the carnivore scale. Feel free to play with the quantities of sambal oelek. If you’re a spicy food freak, add more. If you prefer a milder dish, leave it out entirely.
Ingredients – Wraps
- 1 head butter lettuce, iceberg lettuce or romaine
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 can water chestnuts, chopped
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion
- 2 cups warm, cooked, brown rice
- 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- chopped almonds or peanuts for garnish
Ingredients – Dipping Sauce
- 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sambal oelek
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- Separate lettuce leaves, rinse, and set aside.
- Mix dipping sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In a large skillet or wok, brown the ground chicken – breaking into small pieces as you do so.
- Drain cooked chicken if necessary then return to pan over medium high heat.
- To pan containing cooked chicken, add canola oil and minced garlic. Cook until garlic is transluscent.
- Stir in chopped water chestnuts, scallion and brown rice. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, stir together soy, brown sugar and rice wine vinegar.
- Stir flavorings into pan and mix well.
- Spoon into lettuce leaves and garnish with nuts.
- Serve with dipping sauce on the side.
This post is linked to the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop at A Moderate Life and Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
i crave these…literally. some days i am driving and i think to myself…i HAVE to get my hands on lettuce cups! your version is so much healthier than mine…so i am going to swap out for yours…that way my craving will be delicious and guilt free! thank you for sharing with tuesday night supper club.
Hi Christy! I hope you like these as much as we do ;) Thanks for visiting Fit Foodista and hosting such a great blog carnival every week.
Hi Mickie! Oh I adore your story about your little brother! I also adore chicken lettuce wraps that we used to get all the time at our local Chinese restaurant. Glad now I know how to make them thanks to you! Thanks for sharing this on the hearth and soul hop! Hugs! Alex
I’m with you about getting a bite with these lettuce wraps :) But they sure are delicious! I will try this with brown rice next time.
Fantastic lettuce wraps, Michele. I love that you added brown rice to these. I really like brown rice, but I don’t eat it nearly often enough, but I will definitely be making these :-)
Brown rice has become my favorite. The only downside is it’s cooking time – an hour in the rice steamer means I need to seriously plan ahead :)
Oh, I just love chicken lettuce wraps – I always order them when I am at the PF Changs – I have tried a recipe before and was less than impressed – I love yours and have hopes for great happiness! Thanks for sharing this with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop!
Hi Christy,
I hope the recipe works out well for you. I’m always open to suggestions that’ll make something even better, so don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m thinking maybe a bit of cilantro and lime might be nice additions?? I suppose that takes them into the Thai realm but yummy is yummy regardless of where they fall on the map.
LOL, the Trauma!! Well, at least it didn’t keep you from making and enjoying these. They do sound awesome…saving this one for sure! So, did you mean to make me think of that BK commercial for little hands, big sandwich or was it just a coincidence? Cuz now I can’t stop giggling…tee hee. Thanks for sharing this w/ the hearth and soul hop this week :)
I forgot about that commercial, but it was a perfect reference! Even if MY hands were the little ones, I’d figure out a way to eat lettuce wraps :)
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