Lettuce Wraps W/ Ground Beef & Cheese

Here’s a recipe that came to me after watching one of those Food Challenge shows from FoodTV Network. I can’t remember exactly what the episode was but there was a Mom and Daughter team who won a price for making lettuce wraps. I think the challenge was twists on American classics. I don’t know what American classic dish this lettuce wraps got the inspiration from but hey, it looked good. I’m actually thinking more of Mexican dish like oh I don’t know, Tacos? Anyway, the recipe wasn’t featured much during the show. I actually just saw the picture of the lettuce wrapped dish at the end when they announced the winners. I saw them and I thought, “hmmmm, that looks good, easy, and healthy“.

So the other day, I made my own version. I didn’t search the web for recipes. I just did it on my own. How hard can it be to create lettuce wrapped dishes? It’s not. A 10 year old could do this .

INGREDIENTS :

• 1 package of ground beef (about 2 pounds)
• 6 button (white) mushrooms, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and shredded
• salt and pepper
• a sprinkle of dried oregano
• shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 head of lettuce (you won’t use the whole thing)

In heated pan, brown ground beef. Drain the fat. Leave a little bit for sauteing.

Once the meat is cooked, add garlic and onion. Stir and let them cook.

Add the mushroom. Cook for a bit. Not too long.

Add the carrots. Cook it about 2 minutes. Not too soft. You want to retain the crunchy texture of the carrots.

Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle dried oregano flakes. It gives a little bit of flavor.

Take the plastic wrap of the lettuce. Carefully unpeel the leaf one by one. Depending how big the leaf is, you’ll probably have to cut that in half. Hold it in your palm, scoop 2 spoonfuls of the ground beef filling in the middle of the lettuce. Add shredded cheese.

When you eat it, just fold the sides into the middle and hold it horizontally so the filling doesn’t fall. There will be some that will end up on your plate but you can always just put it in an other lettuce wrap.

VOILA. It’s very easy, definitely healthy and the kids would enjoy making their own lettuce wraps.

For a healthier version, use ground turkey instead of beef. The former is leaner in meat.