Asian Lettuce Wraps

I have to admit that before I made these, I'd never actually eaten lettuce wraps.....a meal without carbs?!  How could that be???  I stumbled across this recipe on The Noble Pig blog and decided to give it a try since I've been trying to eat a little healthier lately.

I'm glad I gave this a try because it made a tasty, healthy meal for us.  I'll admit that I wouldn't have turned down some eggrolls or potstickers to go with this, but it was definitely filling on it's own and good for my waistline.  I also loved the presentation, and I think this would make a good appetizer when you're entertaining guests.  I will definitely be making these again :)

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 pounds ground turkey or ground pork (I used a 1.25 lb. package of ground turkey)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 cup bean sprouts
2 carrots, shredded (about 1 cup)
24 large Boston or butter lettuce leaves (I used 1 head of butter lettuce....you could also use regular iceberg lettuce to cut the costs a little bit)
Soy sauce, for serving

Directions:

Warm oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and saute until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add garlic, saute 1 minute longer.

Stir in turkey and cook, stirring until almost cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add broth and hoisin sauce. Cook, stirring and breaking up clumps of turkey, until turkey is cooked through and some of the liquid cooks down, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in teriyaki sauce, bean sprouts and carrots. (You should have about 6 cups of filling).

Either spoon about 1/4 cup of filling into center of each lettuce leaf, or serve like I did below so that each person can just make their own lettuce wraps.  Serve with soy sauce if desired.

Source:  The Noble Pig

Turkey Burgers

Let me start this off by saying that before I made this recipe, I had never ever eaten a turkey burger before.  I love beef burgers, and I just thought that turkey burgers would taste somewhat burger-like, but definitely sub-par. 

I finally decided to give turkey burgers a try because I'm trying to make myself cook and eat a little healthier (but not healthy enough that I didn't load these babies with some gooey, melty cheese!), and I'm glad I got past my preconcieved notions because these were great!  I'm not saying that I won't be enjoying the occasional beef burger going forward, but I will definitely be making more turkey burgers in the future.

Ingredients:

Turkey Burgers-
1 (1.25 lb) package of ground turkey
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons worstershire sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Salt, pepper & hamburger seasoning, to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon of each)

For Cooking Burgers-
Non-stick cooking spray

For Serving-
4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted
Sharp white cheddar cheese, or any good sharp cheese
1 small red onion, sliced and sauted with some EVOO until softened
Ketchup & mustard, to taste

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together all of the turkey burger ingredients (it works best to use your hands to do this).  Refrigerate for about 10 mintutes (I did this so that the meat mixture wasn't too sticky), then form until 4 hamburger patties (if you want, you can refrigerate again at this point if your patties are too sticky after handling them).

Heat a gas grill to medium-high heat, and spray the grates with some non-stick cooking spray.  Cook burgers for 5-6 minutes on each side, until cooked all the way through.  On the last couple minutes of cooking, place cheese on top to melt.  Serve on hamburger buns with sauteed red onions and the hamburger condiments of your choice.