Health Nut: A Different Kind of Salad

My favorite cuisine in the whole entire world is Chinese, but unfortunately I have been unable to find a Chinese place that satisfies my cravings (I’m open to suggestions people!). In order to keep the crave monster away and stay happy, I make my own lettuce wraps. This is a recipe I developed over the summer after some experimentation and research online. Some of these ingredients may seem hard to come by, but I promise that all of them are available at FroGro!

These wraps are refreshing to the taste and bursting with flavor. They are also very healthy—for those who want a no-carb meal (don’t do this all the time though!) and are tired of regular salads, this is a great alternative! In case you would rather not spend the time making the sauce for the wrap, I know there are stir-fry mixes for lettuce wraps at FroGro; try them out for a faster cooking time. Hope this helps to satisfies any cravings you might have!

Ingredients:

½ crown of broccoli, chopped
1 can of baby corn, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 cup of carrots, chopped
1 cup of white mushrooms, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 lettuce crown (you can use as many leaves as you want!)
2 stalks of green onions, chopped in rounds (optional)
1 avocado, chopped (optional, but highly recommended)
½ cup of crushed peanut (optional)

Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil (optional, but highly recommended)
1 tablespoon of chili garlic sauce (optional)

Directions:

1) Chop all the vegetables into small pieces—these will taste better with the lettuce wraps.
2) Mix the soy sauce with the lemon juice and rice wine vinegar first. Stir.
3) Add the sesame oil for a hint of smoky flavor.
4) Add the chili garlic sauce for a spicier flavor.
5) Take out individual lettuce leaves and wash thoroughly. Leave them out on a towel to dry.
6) Heat up a pan with olive oil. Add the mushrooms when the oil is hot. Sauté them first to avoid making the other vegetables soggy (since mushrooms contain a lot of water).
7) Once the mushrooms are golden, take them out in a bowl and reheat the pan to sauté the remaining vegetables.
8) Once the remaining vegetables are cooked, put the stove on low heat and add the mushrooms back in.
9) With the stove on LOW heat, add prepared sauce to the vegetables. Stir until all of the cooked vegetables are garnished with sauce.
10) Take out the contents of the pan into a bowl and put the lettuce wraps on a plate to serve.
11) Scoop out some of the mixture into the middle of a lettuce leave. Add crushed peanuts, some green onions, and avocados on top before wrapping.