Let us now praise the lettuce wrap! Depending on what you fold inside, the frilly green leaves can make hand rolls without the rice, sandwiches without the bread or tacos without the tortillas. Who needs forks in the summer?
Cybelle Tondu’s new recipe for ground turkey, shiitake and cashew lettuce cups combines salad with stir-fry to make finger food full of soy and oyster sauce-y notes, with sweet hoisin sauce for dipping. You can use any kind of lettuce as the wrap. Cool, crisp iceberg and romaine have snap, while butter lettuce is silkier, softening slightly as it meets the warm filling. A bowl of rice on the side isn’t technically necessary, but it’s good for catching those bits that tumble out.
Featured Recipe
Ground Turkey, Shiitake and Cashew Lettuce Cups
I like to think of the stuffed pepper as the lettuce wrap’s brawnier, flashier cousin. Both dishes include savory fillings dressed in vegetal garb, but peppers have a certain sturdiness instead of a leafy delicacy. I have a new meatless recipe for peppers stuffed with cumin-scented chickpeas, topped, of course, with Cheddar cheese. The peppers become velvety soft as they bake, almost collapsing. Still, the best bits might be the grated cheese and chickpeas that fall to the bottom of the baking pan, becoming crunchy and alluringly oily tidbits. I love these peppers as they are, but a little salsa or some salted yogurt on the side would be an excellent addition.
Cumin also stars in David Tanis’s roasted eggplant salad, a dish best not eaten with your fingers, though wielding a wedge of pita to grab the slippery, smoky eggplant pieces works nicely if you just can’t bear a fork. Whether you opt for the broiler or the grill to cook the dish, make sure to let the eggplant’s skin get black and wrinkly and its flesh pudding-soft for optimal flavor and texture.
