Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps


Let's get this out of the way first......you know my hatred for ground turkey and ground chicken (really, any ground up meat makes me nauseous....I'm a pill). It is pink and slimy and looks like worms.

However, I am getting better about it. I bought Empire Kosher ground turkey and it did not offend me at all.

In fact, this recipe was so delicious, I will make it all the time.
Tasted like ground pork to me.

Now for the recipe, if you are still interested in making it after that gruesome description!

I found the recipe in Cooking Light, and changed it up a bit, to make it better.......I added in garlic, hot pepper and scallions.

I used Butter lettuce from the farmer's market like the recipe suggests, but next time I will use Romaine; the butter lettuce (Boston lettuce) was too fragile and after filled, was hard to keep together.


Another thing I need to tell you is that I have been using avocado oil lately.

I find olive oil has such a low smoke point, it winds up burning things like meat, or chicken. And I hate wasting expensive Italian olive oil to use in daily cooking.

So for sauteeing, avocado oil is my new friend. It's got a lot of health benefits, you can read up on it.

I bought Trader Joe's brand which is odorless and flavorless, and clear......but when I went to find it again, it was sold out.
So I bought Tourangelle brand in the can, and it is brown in color and has a pleasant smell and mild flavor. They are both made in Mexico from purely avocados. I love it.

Ok, enough blabbing, here is the recipe.


Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps (makes 8):

1 lb. of ground turkey (I used Empire Kosher)
8 lettuce leaves (Boston or Romaine)
1 carrot, julienned
1 small cucumber, diced
handful of chopped scallions
handful of chopped roasted peanuts
handful of fresh mint, chopped

2 tbsp of canola or avocado oil
2 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 large garlic clove, shaved on microplane
dash of hot pepper flakes

Make sauce and set aside. I cut all the vegetables in the a.m. and left them in the fridge until I was ready to cook the turkey.


In a heavy, large skillet (nonstick works), heat some cooking oil and cook the ground turkey for 7 minutes, breaking it up the whole time, until all the pink is out.

Pour in half of the sauce to the turkey and cook another 2 minutes until the turkey is brown and all the sauce is evaporated from the skillet.


Now you are ready to fill your lettuce leaves!

Fill each wrap with about 2-3 tbsp of the ground turkey.


Lay them on a platter and start to garnish with the carrots, cucumber, scallions, peanuts and mint.


Drizzle each wrap with the rest of the sauce and serve.


DELICIOUS!

Comments

Natalia said…
One of my favorite dishes of all time, first discovered when I had these at the Thai House in Millburn. I like making them at home, because I decide how much sugar and veggies to put in. Love your recipe - can't wait to try it.
Anonymous said…
It is still summer in SC so this looks great -maybe a leaf lettuce would be more sturdy than butter lettuce? But still bendable-

Your printer button looks a little different now and is no longer working for me on my computer-has anything changed?
Stacey Snacks said…
Anonymous,
I have noticed that the print friendly button and the pinterest button are taking forever to load on the page.

If you keep the page up for a few minutes, the print button will work, same w/ the pinterest button.

Sorry....I wish I knew why.

Stacey
Unknown said…
I love Grissgstown Farm Ground Turkey and chicken. I can't do the grocery store versions. Yuck! I've made a version of these wraps several times. So satisfying and healthy. Thanks for the reminder!
Anonymous said…
We had them tonight and were pleased. I substituted a bag of Traders Joe's chicken teriyaki for the ground turkey. .