Asian Roll Lettuce Wrap

Around here, Friday nights are date nights, and we've been trying to go to new restaurants to enjoy the opportunity to try new foods. A couple weeks ago, I had something similar at a local restaurant in town, and I have been wanting to try to make something similar since. The wraps at the restaurant were a chicken version, but the turkey meatballs were definately equally delicious. I found this recpie on allrecipies.com. To quote the hubby, "This one is a keeper."

Oddly, I've never really made "meatballs" before. It just wasn't something that we commonly ate growing up. I wasn't for sure how well the meat would stick together on the grill since it was just the meat, soy sauce, and spices, but it turned out really well. My husband wants to try just the soy sauce, garlic and fresh ginger for turkey burgers soon. I think he could have eaten the meatballs on their own. We left out the radishes for personal preference (mine) but you really could add any vegetables that you prefer to these wraps. We made the rice in a rice cooker rather than on the stove. Do make sure to get a good, undamaged head of romaine lettuce. The meal is quite messy and tears in the lettuce make it that much more of a mess. But as we like to say around here, "It's not any good if you don't get any on ya."



Asian Roll Lettuce Wrap

1 pound ground turkey
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

1 cup brown rice
1 cup water
16 large lettuce leaves
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced red bell pepper
1 cup sliced radishes

1/3 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon sugar


In a medium bowl, mix together ground turkey, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 2 teaspoons ginger. Form into 16 meatballs and roll into ovals. Cover and refrigerate.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine rice with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is tender.

Preheat the grill or broiler. Arrange rice, lettuce leaves, carrots, scallions, radishes and red peppers onto a serving platter or place each into a small bowl. In a medium bowl, mix together 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup water, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons garlic, 1 tablespoon ginger, and sugar. Divide into 4 small dipping bowls.

Thread two meatballs onto each 10 inch skewer. Grill or broil for 10 to 12 minutes, turning occasionally to brown all sides. If broiling, line the broiler pan with aluminum foil and drain fat after 6 minutes.

To eat, place a leaf of lettuce onto the palm of your hand, spoon on a little rice, then a meat roll, and a few of the vegetables. Roll up and dip in dipping sauce or spoon sauce over.