It’s a (lettuce) wrap!

Training: Swim 2km / Run 8km

Today consisted of another double training session. A 2km swim in the pool before work, with an 8km run after work.

The swim, despite the pool being super busy, actually went fairly quickly. I think I have mentioned it before but I have 2 main aversions to swimming - the fact that you have to get wet, and the fact that it is repetitive and quite boring. I have always said, however, that if I didn't have to get wet I would probably swim everyday. I just love how my body feels after a session in the pool (just not the chlorine smell!).

Dinner

As I missed out on a pre-run snack, I was famished by the time I got home. Luckily there was a quick and easy meal planned.

Using tonight's Mystery Box ingredient....

Lettuce!

          

Did you know? Lettuce is a low calorie food that is rich in vitamin A and folic acid, although as a general rule, the darker green the leaves, the more nutritious the salad green. Lettuce also contains the sedative 'lactucarium' which relaxes the nerves without impairing digestion, and both the Romans and Egyptians are  said to have eaten lettuce at the end of a meal to induce sleep.

When I drew out this ingredient from the Mystery Box, one dish immediately sprang to mind...San Choy Bow. For what better way to showcase lettuce than by wrapping your dinner up in lettuce!

Now I realise there are a tonne of recipes out there for San Choy Bow (or Sang Choi Bau, or San Choy Bau or lettuce wraps…), all of which use different combinations of mince, spices, veggies and sauces.

I decided to keep my version fairly simple, but seeing as it was to be our main meal, I opted to bulk it up with extra veggies. With that in mind, it is probably a far cry from the 'traditional' dish.

I started by separating the lettuce leaves and giving them a rinse.

Then made the filling by stir-frying pork mince, veggies and a GF sauce.

Topped with coriander and piled high.

 

Serve d with the lettuce leaves, and left in the middle of the table for all to ‘dig in’ and enjoy.

 

San Choy Bow would have to be one of my all time favourite dishes, and I often order it as a starter when we are out enjoying a Chinese meal.

But given how easy it is to make, I really don’t know why I don’t make it at home more often.

  

After all, what is there not to love?

From the warm sweet filling…

To the crunch of the lettuce leaves.

But the best part??? You get to eat this dish with your hands!

BBB’s San Choy Bow (makes 2 very generous servings)

• 1 iceberg lettuce, broken into leaves, rinsed and drained
• 2tbs tamari
• 2tbs GF oyster sauce
• 1tbs lime juice
• 1tsp sesame oil
• 1tsp chilli flakes
• 500g pork mince
• 1 zucchini, grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 capsicum, seeded and diced
• 8 oyster mushrooms, sliced
• 100g bean sprouts
• Handful chopped coriander

1. Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.
2. Heat a small amount of peanut oil in a wok.
3. Add pork and cook stirring until browned.
4. Add veggies, sauce and bean sprouts, and cook until softened.
5. Remove from heat and stir through coriander.
6. Pile high on a plate and spoon into lettuce leaves to serve.

Bud a word of warning… if you like this dish as much as we did, there won’t be any leftovers!

What about you? Do you have a favourite lettuce? I think cos would have to be my favourite!

Happy Baking :)