When I was doing my meal delivery services, I’d often get requests for what people wanted to see on the menu the following month. At some point one of my clients requested some sort of lettuce wrap.
Obviously, I said yes even though I didn’t have any kind of recipe (first rule of business I’ve learned—never say, “No.” to someone who’s paying you!). I decided I wanted them to have an Asian flavor profile. Why? Maybe it reminded me of Korean BBQ where they give you wraps for everything. Maybe I hadn’t had Asian food in a while and was craving it… I don’t know, but it just sounded right, okay!
So, I tested out a lime juice, brown sugar, soy sauce combo to achieve that sweet and salty flavor that usually accompanies most Asian dishes. Luckily I had relatives in town, so I had my own personal “taste tester panel.” We all agreed that the sauce was missing something. Scouring through my pantry to discover what was missing, I spotted a peanut butter jar! BINGO! The sauce was born.
Now, I used textured vegetable protein (TVP) in this recipe because I don’t eat meat, but you could easily substitute ground chicken or turkey instead. (And if you’re thinking what the heck is textured vegetable protein, you can learn more about it in my meatless meatballs post.)
Yields: 6 wraps
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 5 min | Assembly Time: 5 min |Total Time: 20 min
Ingredients:
½ cup TVP, or other ground meat
1 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and grated
4 mushrooms, grated
10 sugar snap peas, sliced on a bias
1 scallion, sliced on a bias
½ tsp sesame seeds, to garnish (opt)
6 bibb lettuce leaves
For the Thai spice mix:
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp cumin
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp soy sauce
½ tsp vinegar
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp hot water
For the soy sauce reduction:
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
1. Place TVP in bowl and cover with water. Allow to soak ~ 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, mix Thai spice ingredients together in a separate bowl until smooth.
3. Add olive oil to a pan and heat over medium heat.
4. With hands, or a wire mesh strainer, strain water from TVP and add drained TVP, mushrooms, carrots, snap peas, and Thai spice mix to pan. Cook ~5 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
5. In a small saucepan, combine soy sauce and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat until reduced by half (~3-4 minutes).
6. Assemble wraps, topping with scallions and sesame seeds. Drizzle with soy sauce reduction.
The Cook’s 2 Cents:
· Make sure to taste the reduction as it’s cooking. If it reduces too much it will end up with too strong of a flavor.
· I used bibb lettuce for this recipe, but honestly leaves are leaves. You could use butter lettuce, red leaf lettuce, anything with leaves big enough to hold the insides.
· TVP can be substituted for any ground meat.
· I used a cheese grater (the side with the largest holes) to grate the carrots and mushrooms. It makes it so much simpler (not to mention faster than cutting with a knife).
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 3 wraps
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Calories: 335 Fat: 12g Sodium: 1415mg Carbs: 42g Fiber: 8g Sugars: 25g Protein: 19g
