It seems that the less I write, at least on the blog, the easier it is to not write. But in recent days, I have missed checking in, so maybe that's a good sign :)
This past week, I made a fun dish that I thought I would share. My husband loved them and I also thought they were especially good. Rather than using ground meat or ground chicken, I substituted quinoa for my lettuce wraps. You could actually make a regular salad and just top it with the quinoa mixture, but using a lettuce leaf as a wrap is fun!!! And I might add...a lot healthier too.
Quinoa Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa uncooked
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3/4 cup chopped water chestnuts
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 bunch green onions chopped
1 carrot shredded
bib lettuce, or lettuce of choice for wrapping
1 avocado sliced
Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
While quinoa is cooking, saute onion in olive oil until tender. Add garlic and saute for just about a minute longer. Add ginger and set aside until quinoa is completely cooked. Once quinoa is cooked, add to onion mixture. Add water chestnuts, soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Stir well and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes to combine flavors. Before serving, add peanuts and chopped green onions.
Arrange lettuce leaves on serving platter. Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of the quinoa mixture into the center of each leaf. You may be able to add more, just be careful to not over fill the lettuce leaves or they will be a little difficult to form into wraps. Top with shredded carrot and a slice of avocado.
Serve and enjoy!
I think these would pack well for lunches as they do not need to be served warm. If you are packing them for your lunch, pack the lettuce and quinoa separately so that your lettuce will remain crisp.
And as I said earlier, you can always make a regular salad and just top it with the quinoa for a little something different.
Enjoy!
Rhonda
