More Meatless (Operation Waste Not, #2)

Because I have high hopes of cooking more this week, I decided to torture the boys with tofu tonight. In addition to the meatless, this recipe met several of my criteria for the week:

• Salad (Summer salad!)
• Bunch of ingredients I had on hand
• Lettuce Wraps

I have a bunch of lettuce wrap recipes floating around, but have never gotten around to making one. In fact, I have never, ever eaten lettuce wraps.

Huh?

They always look really good on menus, but so does about a million other things, so I have never ordered them. Obviously I get the concept of lettuce wraps, but nary a wrap has passed these lips.

Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin-Peanut Sauce
Source: Cooking Light, June 2012

(For your reading pleasure, I am going to star all of the fun ingredients I have in my cupboard.)

Ingredients:
Sauce:

• 1 tsp canola*
• 1 tbsp minced shallot*
• 1/3 c. water
• 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter*
• 4 tsp hoisin sauce*
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper*
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice* (used bottled)

Filling:

• 1 (14oz) package extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
• 1 tbsp dark sesame oil*
• 6 thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp cilantro (skip)
• 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce*
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger* (used refrigerated)
• 2 tsp sugar*
• 1/2 tsp Sriracha*
• 1 c. matchstick-cut carrots
• 1 c. matchstick-cut cucumbers
• 2 c. hot sticky rice
• Bibb lettuce

Directions:

• To prepare sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallot and saute for 2 mins. Add 1/3 c. water and next 3 ingredients (through red pepper), and stir with a whisk. Bring to a boil, cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice.
• To prepare filling, spread crumbled tofu in a single layer on several layers of paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 20 mins, pressing down occasionally.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add sesame oil and swirl to coat pan. Add 1/3 c. green onions, saute 1 min. Add tofu, saute for 4 mins. Add 2 tbsp cilantro, soy sauce, ginger, sugar and Sriracha; saute 1 min. Remove from heat, stir in cucumbers, carrots and remaining green onions.
• Spoon 1/4 c. rice into each lettuce leaf. Top with 1/2 c. tofu mixture; sprinkle with 1 tbsp cilantro. Serve with sauce.

Yield: 4 servings (2 lettuce wraps and 2 tbsp sauce)
Per serving: 355 cals; 15g fat (2.1g sat, 8.5g mono, 3.7g poly); 16.2g protein; 42.6g carb; 3.9 fiber; 0mg chol; 568mg sodium

Reviews:
Despite the hubs asking :"Where do I need to put this crap?" in reference to the tofu when he was putting away groceries, he did a pretty good job of eating most of the crap on his plate. The kid really enjoyed the peanut sauce, asked for seconds, and ate almost his entire portion. I thought it was very flavorful. Unfortunately, I don't know if I can truly call these "wraps" as the lettuce leaves I bought were kind of tiny, so it turned out more like a salad.

Ranking:
Three Forks

Ha ha ha - get it? At least I amuse myself