A Good Addiction

Okay – Let’s see where to start – Let us see- Letus see – LETTUCE!
That’s it, Lettuce wraps.

Goods & I have a serious new addiction to lettuce wraps.
It all started when we went to Mon Jin Lau’s -He ordered their lettuce wraps. He loved their lettuce wraps (none for me, they consisted of chicken) – so that put me on a quest to make my version.

So here we go…..

First I press 1- block of extra firm tofu- (I do mine for at least an hour)

Make the marinate for both veggies & tofu:
¼ c. minced onion
1 T. fresh grated ginger
3-5 minced garlic cloves
1/3 c. of canola oil
½ T. sesame oil
2 T. rice wine vinegar
1 T. tamari
2 T. Hoisin sauce
½ c. water
1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1 T dried parsley
1 tsp. cilantro (I would use fresh, but I didn’t have)
Ground pepper to taste
Dash of Cayenne Pepper (if desired)

**this should make about 2 cup of liquid – if it doesn’t add more of liquid of preference to do so.

(sometimes I add orange juice - to be wild)

I receive weekly, beautiful veggies from Door To Door Organics.
So I cut up all sorts of fresh veggies in small pieces- approx 8 cups total
Some suggestions:
Broccoli
Carrots
Boy Choy
Onion
Bean Sprouts
Peppers – Red, Green, Jalapeno, Banana etc.
Waterchestnuts (canned of course)

After the tofu is done being pressed– cut in small pieces (½” square or smaller) pour some of the marinate on the tofu (how does ¼ c. sound??)
Pour the rest of the marinate on the cut up veggies…oh - make sure they are in a bowl or some sort of container before you pour it on the veggies.

Now let the marination begin! I let it set for at least an hour.

After all the flavors have infiltrated the tofu & veggies – it’s time for cooking-
Tofu: Heat a skillet with a tablespoon of peanut oil (or oil of choice). Stir fry tofu until desired crispness. Reserve liquid marinate for tofu or veggies if needed.
Veggies: In separate large skillet, stir fry veggies (no need to pre-oil pan)

After all is done to your liking – toss veggies and tofu together.

Door to Door sends beautiful leaf lettuce that allows us wrap the veggies & tofu to feed our lettuce wrap addiction. Take a lettuce leaf and spoon in the cooked mixture.

I like to top my wrap with chopped peanuts and put a big smidgen of Vegan with a Vengeance Peanut Sauce (Page 165) . (BTW, I don’t cook the sauce as in the recipe- because I’m lazy- but it is still excellent!) Goods prefers a Ginger Dressing that we buy at a local oriental market. Also I like to put top it with some chopped peanuts. (Also served store bought veggie potstickers.)

Oh – have lots of napkins ready......

Now this is the first time I have written anything down for making lettuce wraps. I like everything highly seasoned, so I would increase the amount of seasoning next time….but over all I was happy with the outcome.

By the way – if you want to know how many this recipe serves – humm…. yes this is scary- but it’s 2 with a some left over for a lunch for me. I told you we had a problem of lettuce wrap addiction.

Overall rating 5 out of 5 forks - or should it be forkless?