Anyone else find this hilarious?
I do have a Pinterest account, but fortunately, I definitely don’t spend more time on it than I do working out!
Onto food…
On Tuesday night I ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant. This must have put me in an Asian food kind of mood, because I found myself thinking about lettuce wraps yesterday. I just so happened to have randomly bought fresh ginger at the farmer’s market (I couldn’t even tell you why…) and had a ton of different veggies around. I also found miso paste in the back of my fridge from when my friend moved almost a year ago and gave me all the food from her kitchen. I checked the expiration date and it was still good, so with that, I came up with these vitamin-packed lettuce wraps:
Quinoa Lettuce Wraps
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1 large carrot, peeled
- 1/4 c dry quinoa (Ancient Harvest)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 large cucumber
- 1 oz gourmet mushrooms
- 1 TSP brown sugar
- 1/2 TBSP red miso paste
- 4 TBSPs water
- Fresh grated ginger (I’d guesstimate 1 TSP)
- 1 TSP roasted sesame seeds
- A few fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Iceberg lettuce leaves (I made 4 wraps)
- Salt & pepper
Cook quinoa according to directions.
Meanwhile, heat 2 TBSPs of water in a skillet over medium heat. Mince garlic, and add it and the ginger to the pan. Finely chop the pepper, carrot, and mushrooms, and add to the skillet. Cook for a few minutes until softened, then remove from heat. (Add additional water if it starts to get dry.)
Next, place remaining water and brown sugar in a saucepan, and dissolve over low heat. Add in miso paste, and stir until it’s combined with the sugar/water mixture. Meanwhile, chop basil leaves and julienne the cucumber.
Once quinoa is done cooking, put on a small plate. Mix the miso sauce with the veggies, and pour on top of quinoa. Add basil, cucumber, and sesame seeds, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon some of the mixture into each lettuce leave to enjoy.
Nutrition facts: 300 calories, 7 g fat, 12 g protein, 59 g carbs
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