Lettuce Wraps

I love Oriental food more and more every time I cook it. It has such great flavor, even with only a few ingredients; it usually cooks up quickly, and it is super easy to Veganize it! 

I know I mentioned in a previous post that I wouldn't be including many tofu recipes on here, but here's another one. I had to be soy-free for a few months, and I started to miss this stuff! If you've never had tofu before, don't be scared of it. This dish is a good introduction to this healthy, versatile protein. I'll admit that it looks kind of funny when you take it out of the package, but when you cook it up, it looks like ground chicken or turkey, and it takes on the flavors you put it with. My husband and mother-in-law (carnivores and first time tofu-ers, mind you)  both enjoyed these wraps, tofu and all.

These lettuce wraps are delicious as an appetizer or light lunch, and they're super easy to throw together. Who says you can't have an appetizer just because it's a weeknight? Serve them with a noodle and veggie stir fry for a great Oriental meal. 

To make the lettuce wraps you'll need:

• 1 container of firm, hard, or extra firm/hard tofu (found in the produce section)
• about 1 1/2 cups of corn kernels (sorry, not pictured!)
• Romaine lettuce
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
• ginger
• soy sauce
• sriracha sauce (pictured on the left here. It's found in the Asian section, near the soy sauce)
• chili powder

To start, drain the liquid from the tofu and place in a hot, nonstick skillet. Assuming you use a nonstick skillet, there's no need for oil because the tofu is plenty moist. Chop it with a spoon or spatula, then add the garlic. Next, peel the skin from about 1 inch of the ginger and use a fine grater to grate the ginger into the skillet. Give it a stir, and let it cook awhile until the tofu turns brown and the dish is fragrant.  

Starting to brown!

 Stir in the corn when the tofu is fairly brown.

When the corn is cooked and the tofu is even browner than before, reduce the heat to low and add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder, 1/4 of soy sauce, and a couple of squirts of sriracha (this stuff is really spicy, so go easy at first. You can add more later if you want an extra kick). Taste and adjust the spices.

After the spices and sauces are in, the whole thing takes on a lovely color and looks a lot like chicken.

 To serve, spoon the tofu/corn mixture onto romaine leaves and eat it like a Chinese taco. You can top it with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to give it a little extra somethin'-somethin'.

Mmmm!

 Bon appetit!