Yummmm!!!!!!!
This is one of our all time favorite meals, and CG requests to have it every time she comes out. I found the original recipe in Cooking Light Magazine a few years back. Have I mentioned how much I love Cooking Light*? Because wow, do I ever love those guys! I was a little wary with this recipe because, let's face it, it's not the prettiest, and I had to do a bunch of tweaking to make it work for my family, but I gave it a try and it has been a regular menu item ever since.
You can see the original recipe here. Obviously the peanuts were a big no-go, but they really seemed like an essential ingredient, both for the flavor and the added crunch. Also, my crazy husband also for some reason doesn't like cilantro or mint. I know, crazy, right? So what to do instead? Watch and I'll show you how easy it is to tweak a recipe for both allergies and crazy food preferences.
Changed Up Turkey Lettuce/Cabbage Cups
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Large Napa cabbage leaves or butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry
sunflower seeds
Directions:
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and turkey to pan. Cook until turkey is done, stirring frequently. Drain turkey and place in a large bowl. Add all ingredients except cabbage or lettuce leaves and sunflower seeds and combine well. Spoon turkey mixture into cabbage or lettuce leaves and top with sunflower seeds. Makes about 4 servings.
As I was typing the ingredient list, I found myself putting notes in parenthesis next to each one, and I decided that looked awful. So I deleted that and added a lot more blabbing down here at the bottom.
-First, for the ginger, fresh really is best, but I have used 1 teaspoon of ground ginger in a pinch and it was still yummy.
-For the ground turkey, did you know that regular old ground turkey can be just as fatty as ground beef? I buy the ground turkey breast instead just to make sure I know exactly what I'm getting, or I buy some turkey breast and have Marquis grind it himself in his fancy meat grinder. I will also usually add a tablespoon or so of olive oil when cooking, basically trading yucky fat in for some healthy fat.
-When CG is here, because that crazy girl doesn't like onions, we leave the green onions chopped on the side for whoever wants them. When we only have onion lovers in the house, we actually throw them in with the turkey and let them cook a little, turns out way yummy!
-The parsley is my cilantro/mint trick. Marquis doesn't like mint or cilantro because those flavors basically reach out and clobber all other flavors to smithereens. The fresh parsley still gives a wonderful fresh herb flavor, but plays nice with all the other stuff going on so you can taste that stuff, too.
-You can find fish sauce in the Asian aisle in the grocery store. It is important, don't leave it out! But also important, don't smell it when you put it in! Just trust me here.
-The jalapeno is also necessary! If you are not a spicy-loving person, just make sure you get a small one and scrape out all the seeds and membranes, that will tone it down a lot. This one jalapeno really doesn't add much kick.
-The soy sauce isn't in the original recipe, but the original recipe really seemed to be missing something. (Sorry, Cooking Light people!) Maybe this makes it less "light" or something, but I don't care, it's essential for us.
-Of course you knew I was going to substitute sunflower seeds for the peanuts, but it really is the perfect substitute! It still gives a bit of nutty flavor, and it blends well with everything else going on. I've actually had people tell me they prefer it to the peanut version.
So there you have it, a delicious recipe, tweaked just enough to be perfect for us. I hope that gives you more ideas on how to change up your favorite recipes for your own family!
*Cooking Light hasn't given me anything to gush about their wonderfulness. I just like to blab about the things I like.
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