Lettuce wraps… I don’t know a single person who doesn’t love them. Thing is, they’re often a pain to make. Not because they’re hard, but because they usually require ingredients not everyone has on hand. Ginger, cashews, water chestnuts… you know, all that delicious jazz that’s in them. Then it dawned on me… who says you can’t make lettuce wraps with whatever simple ingredients you have in your fridge??! They don’t have to have all that stuff to be good… they can be amazing with the simplest of things. And boy was I right… we gobbled these bad boys up in a matter of minutes. No fancy ingredients required 🙂 They’re so refreshing, light, and tasty!!
What basic ingredients did I have? Simple ones- carrots, red onion, cabbage, celery, and peppers. Any sweet bell peppers will do- yellow, red, orange… I happened to have a sweet red pepper from my mom’s garden, but use whatever you have around! And for the sauce… simple simple- peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, lime, and red pepper flakes. Again, use what you have… but this worked great. And was super duper simple 🙂
So here we have our simple everyday ingredients…
And that awesome sweet little pepper from the garden 🙂
INGREDIENTS
for wraps…
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced carrot
1/4 cup sliced onion
1 cup grated cabbage (I used purple)
1/4 cup chopped sweet pepper
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 head of lettuce (butter lettuce is perfect!)
chicken- see note below
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 head of lettuce (butter lettuce is perfect!)
chicken- see note below
for sauce…
2 tbsp peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lime
1 tbsp water
sprinkle red pepper flakes
dash of salt and pepper, as needed
sprinkle red pepper flakes
dash of salt and pepper, as needed
for garnish… optional
fresh basil leaves
fresh basil leaves
sesame seeds
Sriracha (rooster sauce)
*for chicken breasts…
I cooked 2 large bone-in breasts, but 1 was enough for about 8 wraps
I cooked 2 large bone-in breasts, but 1 was enough for about 8 wraps
To season them, choose your favorite spices and drizzle with some olive oil
I used dried thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Generously sprinkle breasts with salt and pepper
Then use whatever seasonings.rub you want and lather it all over
Bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes (depending on breast size),
until cooked all the way through
When done, let rest and then chop into thin strips (alternatively, you
can chop it or shred it or make the chicken however, but I wanted strips)
Set aside until ready to assemble
While chicken is cooking, do everything else…
Start with sauce
Put peanut butter, honey, lime, and water in a bowl
Season and mix… done!
Set aside until ready to use
Now chop up veggies…
Chop celery, slice carrot (I used slicer edge on grater), grate cabbage, and slice onion…
Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl
Chop basil up and add…
And slice up sweet peppers and toss in
Now get that sauce…
Add about 4 tbsp (or as much as you want)
The rest is for topping 🙂
Stir up and adjust sauce ratio as needed
You’re almost done!!
Get the lettuce ready…
I used butter lettuce (love the stuff!)
Get the inside crunchy center of the lettuce head, rince, and dry
Lay leaves out on a plate and dollop some veggie mix onto the leaves
Then top with a few strips of chicken
Yumm, looks tasty already right?!
Then drizzle with some peanut sauce, sprinkle with some
sesame seeds, and garnish with basil leaves
If you like spicy, squeeze on a little Sriracha to top it all off!
And enjoy!! Yumm, so refreshing and light!
