Meatball lettuce cups

Bright and fresh!

We are being very conscious of not going grocery shopping till we have to.  After looking at our bank statement and seeing how much we are spending at HEB has made that a priority.


So end of the month and things get interesting.  What do we have to use that are on the good side of bad?  Carrots and lettuce cups (meal deal gets me every time).  What protein do we have that doesn't need to be defrosted?  Beans...we had lots last week.  Meatballs?  Yeah...I can heat those in the oven.  So Asian style meatball lettuce cups were on the menu.


I had remembered seeing a Bahn mi sandwich a while back that featured meatballs and I thought that sounded interesting.  I kind of had already figured out what I wanted to do but needed help with the amounts.  This Good Housekeeping recipe used most things I had on hand, with a few modifications:  http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/meatball-lettuce-wraps-recipe-ghk0511

What it calls for:

3 limes (used equivalent in lemon juice)

3 cup(s) shredded carrots

1/2 cup(s) packed fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced (used about a 1/4 cup of fresh basil instead)

2 clove(s) garlic, finely chopped (used in carrot salad)
1 teaspoon(s) lower-sodium fish sauce, for carrots (used soy sauce)

1 1/4teaspoon(s) sugar (used honey)

1 pound(s) lean (93-percent) ground turkey (used prepared meatballs)

12 Boston lettuce leaves 

My additions:
ground ginger and toasted sesame seeds

The response was great!  The kids loved them and so did we.  Light, fresh and fairly healthy. Only things I would suggest is to make sure your sesame seeds are good and not really old (slightly rancid taste...soy sauce hid it well) and make sure to use a light hand with the ginger.  I overdid it a bit and that is a flavor that is hard to mask.  I will make this again and make my own meatballs or use soy crumbles.

Served this with my favorite Alton Brown baked brown rice and prepared egg rolls.