Anyone who has received butter lettuce in their Bountiful Basket knows that it can be a little unsettling to put something that claims to be “alive” and comes with a dirty root ball into your refrigerator. We also know that it’s delicious. Both times I’ve gotten it, I knew I could’ve probably just made a salad, but the perfectly cupped-shaped leaves made my mind automatically think lettuce wraps. So, the two times in my life that I have made lettuce wraps happen to also be the two times in my life that I’ve gotten butter lettuce from my Bountiful Basket. Another bonus is that you can use a myriad of veggies for the filling, so it is a great recipe to use-up other random items from your Basket like zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, carrots, onions, celery, etc.
Ingredients
- 1 head of butter lettuce or 1/2 head of iceberg lettuce
- 1 chicken breast
- 1 tsp. canola oil
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 yellow onion--diced
- 2 carrots--diced
- 2 stalks celery--diced
- 1/2 cup mushrooms--diced
- a handful of cashews--roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- a squirt of siracha, depending on how hot you like it
- 2 garlic cloves--minced
- 1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
- 1 Tbsp. peanut butter
- a splash of rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 lime--juiced
Instructions
- Heat the canola oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Season both sides of the chicken breast with salt and pepper and sear it on both sides in the wok. Once the chicken is seared on both sides but not fully cooked, "grind" it up. I use a fancy meat tenderizer/breaker-upper that I got from The Pampered Chef, but you could just use a regular meat tenderizer or a knife. I really like the texture of tiny chicken bites in my lettuce wraps. You could also just use ground chicken, turkey, or beef.
- Add the veggies and some salt and pepper to the ground chicken and saute until the veggies are soft.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients for the sauce in a separate container. When the veggies are soft, add the sauce and cook until it comes to a bubble. Throw in the chopped cashews.
- Serve inside washed lettuce leaves. Adding rice makes it a complete meal.
That what I do with mine too. Very yummy 🙂