Summer has officially begun! Last week, we made the 3 hour trek to the Catskills in Upstate New York where we spend our summer. I’m more of a city gal myself, but the city heat is unbearable, so I welcome the cool mountain air, rolling hills, grass and trees (something we majorly lack in Brooklyn)! The ten weeks we spend here fill my kids with vitality like a tank fills with gas. The long summer days spent carefree in the the outdoors are life’s best medicine, and I’m so thankful I get to give it to them.
As for me, some of my best memories are the ones I spent in the bungalow colony as a child. I love waking up to the smell of the mountains, and when I sit outside sipping my coffee and listening to the birds sing their song, it’s like pure heaven. But I can do without the endless laundry (they change like four times a day!), constant meals (all the swimming and biking makes them ravenous), and not seeing my husband the whole week (someone’s got to pay for all the food and laundry detergent we go through lol!).
I’m not really sure how much I’ll be able to keep up my blogging from here. I didn’t bring any props with me and I’m keeping things simple in the kitchen. But I did bring my camera and I loved the challenge of putting together a summer recipe without all of my fancy ingredients and food styling stuff. It’s also a learning experience working with different natural light, so I was happy to prepare these simple summer wraps and blog about them. Otherwise, I’ll be keeping things light around here, and probably blogging a lot less than usual. But I hope you’ll all be taking a break too!
Wishing you a light, healthy and refreshing summer!
Asian Lettuce Wraps
2 lbs dark meat turkey
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp grapeseed oil (or other neutral flavored oil)
2 tbsp soy sauce.
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sriracha plus more for garnish
kosher salt, to taste
Boston lettuce
optional toppings: carrot sticks, radish, scallions
Method:
Heat the sesame and grapeseed oil in a skillet and add the ginger and garlic. Saute until fragrant but not browned. Add the ground turkey and season with salt. Cook over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks, until the turkey is crumbled and no longer pink. Add the soy sauce, lime juice and sriracha and stir to incorporate.
Divide the turkey among lettuce cups and top with carrot sticks, sliced radish and scallions. Finish with sriracha.
NOTE: to make these Paleo/Whole30, use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and substitute hot sauce for the sriracha.
If desired, you may pickle the carrots and/or radishes as follows:
OPTIONAL PICKLES
julienned carrots, sliced radishes, sliced cucumbers
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add veggies and set aside to cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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