Stir-Fried Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Here is my other "non-cookbook" recipe for the week (refer to my previous post for the scoop on all the "non-cookbook" drama of the week). This is a 2-step Martha Stewart dish, that is yummy, healthy, and will satisfy any take-out cravings you may have lurking within your psyche.

Stir-Fried Turkey Lettuce Wraps
From: Martha Stewart Everyday Food app for iphone (via marthastewart.com; Everyday Food, Jan. 2010)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 teaspoons fish sauce
4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)
1 large shallot, finely chopped (I didn't have a shallot, so I used finely diced white onion)
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 pound ground turkey (93 percent lean)
2 large heads Bibb, Boston, or iceberg lettuce, leaves separated (I used iceburg)

Directions:
1.In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Set sauce aside.

2.Heat a large skillet or wok over high until hot. Add oil and swirl to coat skillet. Add shallot, ginger, garlic, and chile and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add turkey and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until almost cooked through, 5 minutes. Add half the sauce to skillet and stir until meat is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Serve in lettuce leaves with remaining sauce.



The Result:
This was awesome! My whole family loved it. Here is some exciting news...by whole family, I mean the baby girls, too. Yup. They ate some of the turkey (without pieces of the jalapeno pepper) and they LOVED it. Big girls! This is totally a tangent, but we are transitioning them onto table food and I am really excited. They had steamed peas and carrots, the ground turkey, and fresh mango tonight. It was our first official family dinner where we were all eating together.

Anyway, this recipe was a hit. It was a delicious take on lettuce wraps. I didn't serve the sauce on the side, but instead turned off the heat and just combined the remaining sauce with the finished, cooked turkey. It wasn't overly saucy, but it was super-flavorful. We garnished our iceburg lettuce wraps with some fresh, diced yellow bell peppers, chopped green onion, fresh cilantro, and those crunchy, chow mein noodles. As a side dish, I made roasted broccoli for the boy, the husband and I, and--as I mentioned--steamed some easy finger veggies for the babies. Nom, nom, nom!!! Thanks again to Martha; I am one happy momma.