Spicy Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Let’s face it: eating healthy can often feel like punishment. Don’t get me wrong, a snappy, well dressed salad or an ice-cold green smoothie can definitely hit the spot. But too often, “healthy” equals limp vegetables, lame salads, or endless bowls of quinoa.

The trick to keeping healthy exciting, especially when it comes to vegetables, is variety. At any given moment, there are dozens of fresh fruit and vegetables at the grocery store, plus more in the canned and frozen sections. Trying new combinations of vegetables and new ways to prepare vegetables leads to thousands of new dishes, a far cry from the old romaine-cucumber-tomato “blahs.”

Or you can redefine “salad” completely. These spicy turkey lettuce wraps are basically an Asian salad on romaine, but by wrapping the filling in lettuce cups instead of tossing it with chopped lettuce, they feel new and different (and also messy — don’t eat these while wearing your new white jeans.)

Lettuce cups are nothing new, and have been huge at least since P.F. Chang’s opened its doors two decades ago. Mix ground meat (I used 94% lean turkey) with carrots, peppers, mushrooms, water chestnuts and a sauce of hoisin, soy sauce and Sriracha for a spicy, crunchy, savory filling that would be delicious with rice or buckwheat noodles if it wasn’t so friggin’ good with lettuce.

I don’t cook a ton of Asian-style meals at home, mostly because I can order 3 days’ worth of General Tso’s plus an egg roll for $7. So these lettuce wraps felt like an extra-special treat, a healthy meal that was so much better than just salad.*

*This is the name of a popular lunchtime salad place near my office. Every time I pass it, I wonder, why would you ever want to be known as “just salad”? Like ‘what’d you get for lunch?’ ‘Just salad.’

Spicy Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Adapted from Girl Versus Dough

– 2 tablespoons olive oil

– 1 red onion, chopped

– 3 cloves garlic, minced

– 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger

– 1 pound lean ground turkey (I used 94% lean)

– 1 8-ounce package sliced cremini mushrooms (you could also use shiitake or white mushrooms)

– 1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch matchsticks

– 1 bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips

– 1 6-ounce can water chestnuts, rinsed, drained and sliced

– 1 jalapeno or fresno chile, seeded and diced

– 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

– 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

– 1 tablespoon Sriracha

– 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

– 1/4 cilantro, chopped

– 2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts (optional)

– 1 head iceberg lettuce

1) In a large skillet or wok, heat the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic and ginger, and saute until softened, 5-7 minutes. Add the ground turkey and break into crumbles. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the mushrooms. Saute until the turkey has browned, about 5 minutes.

2) Stir in the carrot, peppers, water chestnuts, and chiles. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce, hoisin, Sriracha and rice vinegar. Cook, stirring constantly, for an additional 5 minutes, until the vegetables are crisp-tender and the turkey is fully cooked. Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped cilantro. Set aside to cool slightly.

3) While the turkey mixture is cooling, peel 8 whole lettuce leaves off of the iceberg lettuce. Once the meat has cooled, divide the filling among the 8 lettuce cups. Top with the chopped peanuts and additional cilantro (if desired). Serve at room temperature.