Spicy Lettuce Wraps
Although this recipe isn’t hard, it does involve a fair amount of chopping. To me it’s worth it because I love lettuce wraps, but the ones in restaurants are too high in calories. Using vegetables in place of some of the chicken dramatically cuts the calories in this dish, but it doesn’t change the flavor. Fair warning though; if you’ve never used chili paste before, it’s hot. You may want to start with half the amount and taste the sauce before adding more.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Sauce
Wraps
Preparation
Step 1
To make the sauce: Place the soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, and chili paste in a small bowl and stir until combined.
Step 2
To make the wraps: Cut the chicken into 3- or 4-inch pieces. Coat a large sauté pan with cooking spray and add the chicken. Cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. (Cut into one of the pieces to make sure there is no pink inside.) Remove the chicken from the pan, let cool, and cut into 1/4-inch cubes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, peel the onion and chop into 1/4-inch pieces. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Trim the zucchini and mushrooms, discarding the ends, and dice into 1/4-inch pieces. Drain the bamboo shoots and cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Peel the cucumber, cut into matchstick-size pieces (about 1/8 by 1/8 by 2 inches), and set aside for the garnish. Remove and discard the stem and seeds from the red pepper, cut into very thin slices, and set aside for the garnish. Separate the lettuce leaves from the head, wash, and let dry on paper towels. Place the lettuce, cucumber, and red pepper on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Step 4
Coat the sauté pan with more cooking spray and add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add the zucchini and mushrooms, cover and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add the chicken, bamboo shoots, ginger, and half of the sauce and cook, uncovered, for 2 to 3 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Step 5
Place the filling in a bowl and serve with the lettuce leaves, cucumber, red pepper, peanuts, and remaining sauce on the side. To assemble, place some of the filling inside a lettuce leaf. Arrange some of the cucumber and red pepper over the filling. Sprinkle with some of the chopped peanuts, drizzle with the sauce, and wrap up like a burrito.
VEG OUT
Step 6
This recipe makes enough that you could probably just leave out the chicken and still have enough to serve four people, or you could add extra mushrooms or zucchini.
