Published: Jul 6, 2015 · Modified: Nov 12, 2021 by foodyschmoody ·

Deconstructed Lettuce Wraps

Deconstructed Lettuce Wraps - All the flavors of our favorite Asian Lettuce Wraps without the hassle of the actual wrap.

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I have to start off by thanking my brother for giving me the inspiration to make this dish due to his very strange aversion to tradition style lettuce wraps. I feel like I should back up a bit and explain the whole story...

I got a Fit Bit for Mother's Day. I got it because I asked for it not because my husband was dropping hints or anything. In typical fashion I took the Fit Bit as a way to create competition. I started texting everyone to find out who else had one of these magical little bands so I could smack talk and motivate myself to be better than them. After a little smack talking with my sister in law, we decided to join forces for support instead and began walking together each morning.

We were doing pretty well, too, going almost 3 miles each morning, until the kids got out of school. Anyway, while we were on a morning walk she mentioned that she had ground turkey in the fridge that she needed to use up. I suggested a few ideas like One Pot Mexican-ish Shepherd's Pie, One Pot Turkey & Rice Bowl & Turkey, Broccoli & Orzo Casserole.

Then, thinking of the flavors my brother enjoys, I get excited and say how about Asian Lettuce Wraps, I bet he would love those!

As I was beaming with my brilliant idea, I see my sister in law making a face and she says "don't even get me started". Or maybe it wasn't that but something to that effect.

She goes on to say that he thinks they are too much effort to eat.

WHAT?! You stick it all in a piece of lettuce and eat it like a taco, what the heck is so hard about that?

She didn't get into it too much but made it clear they have had this conversation more than once.

Later than night as I was looking at my pound of ground turkey (there was a really good sale that week), I wondered if I could just make a "bowl meal" out of the ingredients that would normally make up a lettuce wrap.

I knew if it worked I would want to share it and his weird aversion with all of you so I sent him a text asking his permission and he told me to go for it. He then proceeded to give me even more content than I imagined! See for yourself.

Needless to say, it obviously came out wonderful since you're seeing it here. I am not weird and have zero issue picking up a lettuce wrap but it was fun to create something for those of you who might.

One quick note, I generally use Bibb lettuce or something else that creates a natural "cup" when making lettuce wraps but I only had romaine in the fridge and I knew the romaine could stand up to the heat of the ground turkey mixture and not wilt right away. The romaine worked out well and stayed crisp while eating. I haven't tried this with any other lettuce yet, so I suggest you do go for the romaine.

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