Thai lettuce wraps

So, the other night I wanted to make something different, something fresh and crisp and full of flavor.
So after wandering around the grocery store for a while, I decided to make some Thai lettuce wraps with turkey meatballs and peanut sauce.
So I did.

Here's what I used:

 Sesame oil, Fish Sauce, Soy Sauce, Rice Vinegar, sesame seeds, minced garlic, peanut butter, cilantro, ginger, scallions, carrot, yellow and orange bell peppers, lettuce, ground turkey, and rice noodles.

Actually, I thought I bought rice noodles, but it turns out they are bean threads. Not sure the difference, I couldn't tell, but I thought I should point that out.

To begin, prep the noodles. They need to soak in hot water for a little while, so heat that up.

Then prepare the meatballs.
Add some garlic to the turkey, then mince up some fresh ginger and add that.
I found it easiest to just peel it, then grate it on a microplane.

 Next, add a spoonful of fish oil

Then soy sauce

Then rice vinegar

then heat a large skillet with a little oil

Mix everything together, and prepare the meatballs

 Add them to the pan, and flip when browned.

 They will probably need to cook about 4-5 minutes on each side over medium-high heat.

At this point, you can add the noodles to the pot of hot water, turn the burner off, and let them soak for about 10 minutes.

While the meatballs and noodles cook, you can make your sauces.
First- the dressing for the meatballs. Add 4 tbsp fish oil, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 4 tbsp rice vinegar, and 1 tsp sesame seeds. Whisk together and set aside.
Oh, and if you like a little heat, you can add some red pepper flakes to this as well.

Then make the peanut sauce.

Mix 1/4 c peanut butter with about 2 tbsp honey, then add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, and a spoonful of minced garlic. Whisk until combined.

 

When the meatballs are done, put them in a bowl, then pour the dressing over them.

Now, just chop/slice all the veggies and get them ready for the wraps.

Now, normally I like to use sweet Boston lettuce, because the leaves are just perfect for lettuce wraps, but my grocery store didn't have any. Nor did it have any other lettuces that I wanted. So I just grabbed a head of iceberg. But if you can get your hands on Boston lettuce, I highly recommend it.

Ok, the assembly (finally!!!):

 Lettuce

 noodles...

 carrots & peppers...

 cilantro & scallion...

 meatballs...

 peanut sauce...

 wrap...

Enjoy...

then make another...

See you soon.

xoxo

Turkey Gumbo

This is one of my most favorite soups, and is the perfect thing to make on a long, snowy winter weekend.
So I did.
And it was amazing.

Let's begin...

Brown rice, chicken broth, turkey, sweet sausages, celery, chopped tomatoes, white onion, salt, pepper, garlic, and okra. Because, after all, you can't make gumbo without okra.

First up, boil 2 1/2 cups of water in a small saucepan for the rice. As soon as it boils (which only takes a couple minutes), add the rice. It is going to take the longest to cook, so you need to get it started first.

Next, in your soup pot, brown the meat.
I used fresh turkey breast, and sweet sausages.

While the meat cooks, chop the veggies.
I used fresh onion and celery, so that was all I had to chop. The tomatoes were canned, so I drained them, and the okra was frozen. You can certainly use fresh okra, but honestly, why bother. The quality of the frozen stuff is real good, and it keeps you from having to deal with the slimy fresh stuff.

 Ok, so when the meat is nice and brown, remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Oh man, look at all the yummy stuff on the bottom of the pan! You know what I call that? Flavor!!!!!

And flavor, my friends, is the base of all good soups. 

You see, so many people make the mistake of just adding things to a pot of broth and calling it a day. But that isn't going to give your soup good flavor, or depth. This is.

So, let's get to it....

Add the onions, celery and okra to the pot and cook over medium heat until soft.

Add any spices you like at this point.
I used a pinch of thyme and a couple pinches of parsley.
Then add the tomatoes.

And stir until happy.

Now, slice up all the sausages and chop up all the turkey, then add to the pot.

 (Oh man, it's starting to look so good!)

Once the meat and veggies are heated up, you can add the broth.

By this time, the rice should be done. I let mine cool a bit, then I added it to the pot.

 Stir it all up, then get ready to enjoy!!

See you soon.
xoxo