Mid-Week Inspiration (Asian TurkeyLettuce Wraps) (6 WW pts for meat, with sauce count as 8-9pts)

When the going gets tough, the tough get chopping!

So I'm driving home from the office this evening. Hungry. Of course. Sure, I had the most important meal of the day (breakfast); and a yummy salad for lunch.  But by the time I left the office I was down right ravenous.  

Tooling down 147 (Note to SoCal friends, they don't put a "the" in front of the the number.  Weird. But you get used to it.) I did a mental inventory of our 'fridge: Ground turkey. Random veggies.  I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I decided to make Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps. 

Had I done them before?  No.  Did I have a recipe?  No.  Did I have lettuce?  No.  

No biggie.  A quick trip to Harris Teeter and we had all the supplies I thought we'd need.  And by the time I got home, Steve's buddy Jeff was on his way over to join the fun.  

The result -- YUMMY.  And a big shout out to Jeff -- who was pressed into service to take notes while I threw this one together.  

Here's how we did it:

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
(weighs in at 6 WW points for the meat mixture, with sauce I count as 8-9, just to be safe)
Serves 4

Ingredients:
The meat:
3/4 pound ground turkey
1 large or two small cloves garlic, diced
5 large white mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup bean sprouts, chopped
1/2 cup water chestnuts, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 tsp 5 Chinese 5 Spice
2 tsp sesame oil, divided in two
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs pepper spiced rice vinegar (regular will do fine)
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp canola oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper


The sauce: Mix in a small bowl and set aside
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup pepper spiced rice vinegar (or you could use regular rice vinegar with a pinch of cayenne) 
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Sriracha hot sauce (the one with the rooster on it)


The wrapper:
1 head of iceberg lettuce, washed, cored and cut so that you have four circular wedges. See photo.

Method:
In a large bowl mix:

• The turkey, the spices, the vinegar, soy sauce and 1 tsp of the sesame oil, plus a good pinch of salt and 5 or 6 grinds of black pepper

Heat a large skillet over a medium high flame

• Add the oil and then the turkey mixture.
• Stir as the meat browns, to crumble
• When the meat is done, spoon away any liquid and fat.  Throw away!
• Then add in the mushrooms, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, cilantro and scallions.  Continue to cook until everything is cooked through, but still a bit crunchy.
• Adjust the seasoning with salt if necessary, drizzle over the second half of the sesame oil, stir and serve.

To serve:
Put a spoonful - or two! in a lettuce leaf, spoon on some sauce and eat.  
Delish.