Warmer weather is here so that means I’m ready to eat more raw foods. I spend all winter eating rich roasted root vegetables and steamed greens. Spring calls for crisp lettuce and crunchy carrots but it’s still a little chilly so I need to have something warm with my raw food.  These Turkey Lettuce Wraps help fit that bill. This is a fantastically filling yet light meal that looks impressive and takes only 25 minutes to make (and I’m the slowest cookin the world).  Also, they are delicious.  I used to serve these with some sort of dipping sauce but they honestly don’t even need any.  These are gluten free and dairy free.

One of the reason I love this meal is that it’s really versatile.  Don’t have mushrooms? Use bell peppers or snow peas.  Don’t have mung bean sprouts? Try alfalfa sprouts.  Don’t have sherry wine? Use mirin or rice vinegar.  No turkey? Ground beef or thinly sliced pork could work! The only thing I wouldn’t substitute here is the type of lettuce.  I once tried to make these with red leaf lettuce and they tore way too easily, leaving me with hoisin sauce dripping down my arms.  Not a good look.  Boston/Bibb lettuce is super soft and flexible.  It can hold all the fixings without leaking and doesn’t really have thick ribs which means they won’t snap when you take a bite.

This serves 3-4 for dinner (depends on how big of an eater you are) but this would make a great appetizer if you let everyone make their own wraps.

Ingredients
Turkey Mixture
1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1 cup chopped portobello or white mushrooms
20 ounces ground turkey
1 large shallot, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
1inch of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp gluten free hoisin sauce (Joyce Chen brand makes one)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon sherry wine (optional)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

For Serving
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 head Boston or Bibb Lettuce, roots/core cut off, leaves washed

Carrot Salad
5 carrots, shredded
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1tbsp reduced sodium tamari (gluten free soy sauce)

Directions
Heat the olive oil or coconut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
When hot, add mushrooms, shallots and onion and sauté 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Push the mushrooms and onions to the side of the pan and add ground turkey.  Cook the ground turkey through, breaking up with a wooden spoon. When the turkey is mostly cooked, add the ginger, celery, basil, water chestnuts, gluten free hoisin sauce, fish sauce, sherry (optional) and toasted sesame oil and cook for two minutes, stirring a few times.

While the turkey mixture cooks, mix the grated carrots with the cilantro, tamari and sesame oil to make a carrot salad.

For each person, serve 5 or 6 lettuce leaves, some mung bean sprouts, carrot salad and the turkey mixture on a plate (put some of the components in a small bowl if you like).  Then spoon a small amount of each item into a lettuce leaf, fold over with your hand and eat like a taco or a little dumpling.