Chinese Pork Lettuce Wraps

These are so good and perfect for a refreshing spring or summer meal! This recipe is from therealfooddieticians.com. Go to their website for more pictures and instructions. I really didn’t change this recipe other than I used sausage because that’s what we have. The original recipes calls for half of these amounts, but I had to double it for my family of 5 so I went ahead and made the adjustment here. We had lots of leftovers, but 1 pound of meat would not have been enough. I also added some sprouted quinoa cooked in bone broth for some extra nutrition and bulk for my hungry boys. These are messy, but worth it, and nothing a fork can’t fix. They don’t require a lot of extra ingredients so they are an easy meal to whip up! I hope you enjoy.

**You can also serve these as a bowl with soaked quinoa, lettuce and the other fixings listed below. That seems to work better for us… less mess and more filling…**

Chinese Pork Lettuce Wraps or Bowls

Ingredients

Sauce

• 2/3 cup coconut aminos
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or 2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger (or 2 teaspoons grated ginger)
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Sausage Mixture

• 2 pounds ground sausage
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 8 ounce cans water chestnuts

Lettuce Wraps

• lettuce leaves (butter lettuce, romaine or red leaf)
• shredded cole slaw mix
• green onion, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• sesame seeds
• 1 cup quinoa, or soaked quinoa, cooked in 1 cup chicken bone broth (no one noticed this, but it just added some bulk and nutrition to the wraps). I have also been buying Tru-Roots sprouted quinoa that I think cooks a little better and doesn’t get soggy. I use 1 cup sprouted quinoa and 1 1/2 cups chicken bone broth to cook it. It’s really good and pops in your mouth!
• optional: soaked and crispy cashews

Directions

Mix sauce ingredients in a glass measuring cup or small bowl with a small whisk or a fork. Set aside for later. This can be made in advance to make your dinner prep quicker.

Dice onion and place in large skillet. Add ground sausage and garlic. Brown the mixture.

Once the sausage is mostly cooked, add the water chestnuts. Continue browning the sausage until it’s done and chestnuts are slightly cooked.

Turn heat to low and add the sauce. Mix well.

Bring to a low boil and then turn down to a low simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce is thicker and incorporated into the meat mixture.

Serve warm over lettuce leaves and add optional toppings. The lettuce can fall apart a little, but it’s so worth it! Or, serve meat mixture in a bowl with quinoa, chopped lettuce and the rest of the fixings for a more filling and less messy meal!

Enjoy!