Lettuce wraps are a great way to trick people into eating family style: cook up a pan of filler, set out a head of lettuce and some toppings and let your guests do the work!
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Hawaiian-Style Lettuce Wraps
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Tag Archives: pork
Hollah!peno Pork Chops with Spicy Cucumber Salsa
- 1 bag of Alexia Jalapeno Onion Strips (So good, they’re like spicy little onion rings!)
- 4 pork chops, I used center cut chops at about 1.5″ in thickness
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 english cuke, cubed
- 2 tbs red onion, choppped
- 2 tbs cilantro
- 1/2 tsp honey
- 1/2 lime
- 3/4 cup tomatoes (about 10 grape tomatoes)
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
- salt and pepper
Empty contents of onion strips into a freezer bag and seal. Crush the strips with a meat mallet or rolling pin until they reach a crumb like consisentency. Place crumbs on a large plate.
Whisk two eggs in a bowl and coat each chop in egg, then crumb mixture. Once all are coated, set aside about 15 minutes to allow mixture to adhere to the chops.
Meanwhile, prepare your salsa by combining cucumber, jalapeno, red onion, cilantro, honey, lime juice, tomatoes, salt and pepper and tossing to combine.
Bake chops at 375 for 15 – 20 minutes depending on thickness, mine took 20 minutes.
To serve, top chops with salsa and enjoy!
Lettuce Pork Rolls
Realizing this is my fourth Asian inspired recipe on the site, I’m seeing a pattern here….
Anyway, this recipe is great for a quick and easy lunch on the weekends. Light, flavorful and fast.
Dressing:
- 1 tbs Asian fish sauce (see tips)
- juice of one lime
- 2 tsp minced ginger (see tips)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tsp minced lemongrass
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- splash of rice wine vinegar
Whisk all ingredients and set aside.
Pork Rolls:
- 2 tsp grape seed oil (you can substitute with canola if you’d like)
- 1 lb boneless pork cutlets, about 1/2″ in thickness
- 2 cups shredded napa cabbage
- 1 seedless english cucumber, julienned (see tips)
- 1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
- head of butter lettuce, ribs removed (see tips)
- salt and pepper
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Season cutlets with salt and pepper to taste. Saute until lightly browned, about 2 mins per side. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly and slice into thin strips. Toss with half of the dressing.
Toss your cabbage, red pepper and cucumbers with the remaining dressing.
To assemble rolls, lay lettuce leaf out on flat work surface and top with a few slices of pork, and your cabbage mixture. Be careful not to overstuff or they won’t roll easily. Place rolls seam side down and cut in half to serve. If you’d like, secure rolls with a toothpick.
Tips:
- Fish sauce can be found in the International aisle at your local grocery store.
- Instead of mincing all that garlic, ginger and lemongrass, why not try Gourmet Garden?
- To julienne is to create what resemble little matchsticks. Do this by halving the cucumber lengthwise, then again crosswise and slice into 1/4″ thin strips.
- Cut a ‘v’ in the leaf to remove the hard white part, or rib, as it can cause the leaves to break while rolling.
Pan Seared Pork Chops with Chimichurri
Chimichurri is a traditional Argentinian marinade/sauce that is usually paired with steak but this herbacious sauce is a wonderful accompaniment to pork as well.
For Porkchops
- 4 boneless pork chops about 1 inch in thickness
- 1 tbs grapeseed oil (you can substitute olive oil here or any oil with a high smoke point – meaning it will not burn)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Preheat your oven to 400 and get an oven safe skillet going over medium – high heat. Season your pork chops with salt and pepper. Once the pan is hot, add in your oil and chops and allow to sear for 2 mins without moving them around. Flip and cook the other side 1 minute. Place the pan in the oven and cook an additional 5- 8 minutes depending on the thickness of your chops. Internal temperature for pork should be 160. You can take it out at about 150 though as it will continue to carry over. Let the meat rest before slicing to allow the juices to redistribute.
For Chimichurri
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- fresh flat leaf parsley (about 1 cup loose and unchopped)
- fresh cilantro (about 1/2 cup loose and unchopped)
- fresh basil (about 1/2 cup loose and unchopped)
- bunch of fresh mint (about 1/2 cup loose and unchopped)
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 tbs red wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper
To make the chimichurri, add parsley, cilantro, basil, mint, oregano, 1/2 salt, 1/4 pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic to food processor. Pulse to combine. Add red wine vinegar and turn food processor on. While food processor is running, stream in your olive oil through the top opening. Mixture will loosen up quite a bit. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.
To serve, slice your pork on a bias and serve with a generous spoonful of the chimichurri. Pair with a side salad like our Italian Spinach Salad and enjoy!
Vietnamese Pork Lettuce Wraps
Casual, flavorful and low in carbohydrates, these Vietnamese Pork Lettuce Wraps are a perfect and low-fuss way to feed a group. By keeping all the ingredients separate for people to assemble themselves, the dish becomes an interactive meal personalized to each guests individual tastes. Pork serves as the foundation to the dish, while pickled veggies and fresh herbs bring depth to each bite. Finishing it all off is a sweet drizzle of Hoisin sauce, crushed peanuts and finely chopped jalapenos for heat.
Ingredients:
Pickled Carrots and Onions:
- 2 whole carrots
- 1/2 white onion
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbs white vinegar
- 2 tbs Splenda
Wrap Ingredients:
- 1 lbs ground lean pork
- 1 Jalapeno chili
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 english seedless cucumber
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped mint
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
- 3 chopped fresh scallions
- 1 lime, juiced and zested
- 1 1/2 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs mirin
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbs fresh minced ginger
- 1 tbs lemongrass paste
- canola oil
- 2 heads of bibb lettuce
- 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
- Hoisin sauce
- 1 lime for garnishing
Directions:
Pickle the carrots and onions:
- Peel the carrots normally and discard the exterior, then use the peeler to shave down the carrots into thin strips.
- Cut the onion in half, then half again and slice into strips.
- Add the sliced onion and carrot strips to a non-metalic bowl, stir in the white vinegar, rice wine vinegar and splenda.
- Stir to combine and set aside for at least 1/2 hour.
Prepare and cook the ingredients for the wraps:
- Quarter and chop the english seedless cucumber, add to a serving dish and set aside.
- Half the red bell pepper discarding the seeds and chop the remainder. Add to a serving dish and set aside.
- Roughly chop the mint, basil, cilantro, and scallions and place in individual serving dishes. You should have enough to loosely fill a 1/2 cup measure.
- If you don’t have chopped peanuts, measure out about 1/4 cup of cocktail peanuts, add to a sandwich bag and bash them with the back of a pot. Set aside for garnishing.
- Slice open the jalapeno pepper and discard half the seeds and ribs. Finely chop the remainder and set aside in a serving dish.
- Start a pan over medium high heat. Add about a tablespoon of canola oil and the minced garlic. Allow to come to full heat, but keep an eye on the garlic so it doesn’t brown.
- Add the ground pork, season with salt and pepper and allow to cook for about a minute while breaking up the meat.
- Add in the ground ginger, minced lemongrass, soy sauce, mirin and fish sauce. Toss well to coat and continue to cook until all the pork is browned.
- Using a slotted spoon, move the cooked ground pork to a serving dish leaving the fat behind in the pan.
- Assemble your wraps using a leaf of bibb lettuce, a spoonful of pork, bell pepper, cucumber, fresh herbs, scallions, hoisin sauce, peanuts and jalapenos to taste.
Tips:
- Most supermarkets now stock pre-minced lemongrass in a tube. Look for it near the fresh herbs.
- If splenda isn’t your thing, substitute about 1/4 cup of sugar instead.