Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Ryan and I have gotten in the habit of going to the park a couple times a week. Right after he gets home from work, I load up our dinner, a picnic blanket, and a frisbee and we head over to the park. There are dozens within short driving distance, so we usually let our son pick which one he wants to go to. He doesn't call any of the parks by their normal names, but has given them all nicknames by what he remembers most about them. We end up going to parks named "the blue park!" "the new park!" "the sky park!" and so on. It's been so wonderful to just sit on a blanket and eat dinner together as a family, and enjoy the last month or so of the gorgeous summer weather. 

Ry called me on the way home one day, and said he wanted to do our park picnic that evening. I had already made dinner, so we just packed everything up and headed straight for the park. These lettuce wraps were PERFECT to eat at the park as a family; kind of fun, actually. We loaded up our lettuce with piles of this incredibly addicting turkey and rice mixture, and immediately wished I had doubled the batch. 

The turkey has just enough Asian flare with the hoisin & soy sauces, and the freshly grated ginger. The peppers and carrots softened right up with the savory flavors of the garlic and onion. It didn't seem like this would be such a hit, but we honestly can't wait to have this again. My husband took one bite and was completely sold. I mean, this guy is a non-lettuce-wrap kind of a manly man, so to sell him on the whole lettuce-wrap-for-dinner idea was kind of a big deal. Our little man ate this with a fork, and happily ran off to the park to play his little heart out. It was a win-win for everyone! Seriously, though, this stuff is amazing!! 

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
5 servings

ingredients:

1 T EVOO

1 lb ground turkey

salt and pepper, to taste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper diced

handful of baby carrots, chopped

1 small onion

1/4 C hoisin sauce

2 T soy sauce

1/2 t freshly grated ginger

1 C cooked white rice

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 head butter lettuce (I used romaine because they were out of butter lettuce)

method:

1. Heat oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add ground turkey and cook until turkey is not only cooked through, but has slightly charred brown edges and crumbled, about 5 minutes. Drain excess fat, and set aside on a paper towel lined plate. 

2. Add bell pepper, carrots, and onion to the pan and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Add garlic and saute with the other veggies for 3-4 minutes until the other veggies are tender. 

3. Stir in hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger and ground turkey until well combined. Toss in rice and green onions and gently toss to combine until mixture is heated through. Serve a few teaspoons of turkey mixture in the center of a lettuce leaf like a taco. 

recipe adapted from: Damn Delicious.