I love to cook but to do it well and with love, I need to be inspired. Last week, I was browsing Facebook and came across a post by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition plugging their What’s On Your Plate? contest and congratulating one of the winners. This recipe is courtesy of Eleanor Haddad of Elemental Fit whose Asian-style Lettuce Wraps caught my eye and delighted my tummy.
What I love about this recipe:
1. It’s mostly raw, it’s vegan and gluten-free and includes all the colors of the rainbow
2. It’s creative
3. You can use what you have
4. It’s flavorful, filling and satisfying
5. If you don’t have the ingredients, they are inexpensive to buy
6. It’s quick and easy
7. It has legs – make it once, eat three times!
Asian-style Lettuce Wraps
1 cucumber, julienned
1 red pepper (or yellow or orange), julienned
mushrooms (optional)
avocado, sliced
green and/or purple cabbage
1 carrot, julienned
daikon radish, thinly sliced
1 small turnip, pickled (marinate in apple cider vinegar and sea salt in the refrigerator for an hour)
1 cup of hulled barley or other grain (great for leftovers – I used brown rice) seasoned with tamari (or soy sauce), the juice of 1 lime, 1 Tbsp brown rice syrup or agave nectar, fresh grated ginger and garlic chili oil
romaine lettuce leaves or collards
toasted sesame seeds or gomasio
sauce: tamari, lime juice, minced fresh garlic, garlic chili oil, Chinese mustard
Lay it all out on a tray and build your wraps!
Since I had plenty of leftovers, I tossed the veggies into a bowl with the rice mixture and it it for lunch the next day. And because I still had leftover carrots, peppers and mushrooms, I threw together a stir-fry for dinner and added rainbow chard for extra oomph.
One meal – three ways!
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