Thai Lettuce Wraps

In the immortal words of Dr Sheldon Cooper, “Oh goody!  Dinner; some assembly required.”

The beginning of the CSA season seems to mean a lot of greens and lettuces.  A lot.  Seriously, I had no idea there were so many kinds of lettuce!  It’s crazy!  Anyway…In trying to find ways to use lettuce that aren’t a salad, I found lettuce wraps!

My first attempt at lettuce wraps for this year was an absolute success.  I was able to use the lettuce and one of the kohlrabi from the CSA box, which was nice.  Brian and I both LOVED this recipe (except that after one lettuce wrap, he grabbed some flour tortillas out of the fridge and made Thai Steak Burritos).  The sauce would be killer in a stir-fry, too.

Grilled sliced flank steak is possibly my favorite food, and this marinade was awesome.

I found this recipe at Iowa Girl Eats, and I pretty much followed it.  I sliced a kohlrabi into matchsticks and added that to the quick pickled onions and cucumbers, and it’s possible that I may have used more garlic than the recipe calls for.  Probable, even.

Quick pickled onions, cucumbers and kohlrabi. Yum!

I also sliced some avocado to add to the lettuce wraps.  It was a nice blend of textures and temperatures – the hot steak, cold crisp pickles and cold creamy avocado…I wish there would have been leftovers!

Avocados are so pretty.

Thai Lettuce Wraps (adapted slightly from Iowa Girl Eats)

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
• 1 piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped (I used a piece about the size of my thumb)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 Tablespoons creamy almond butter
• 1 flank steak
• 2 avocados, sliced
• Bibb lettuce cups

Quick-Pickled Veggies

• 1 small cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium white onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 kohlrabi, sliced into matchsticks
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar

For the Quick-Pickled Veggies: combine ingredients in a large bowl then stir to combine. I mixed everything in a large Tupperware container and let it sit in the fridge for about 6 hours before dinner.  Every now and then I shook the container to stir it all up.

Combine soy sauce, lime juice, olive oil, honey, sesame oil, red chili pepper flakes, ginger, and garlic in a blender or food processor then blend until smooth. Remove 1/4 cup of the liquid and pour into a large ziplock baggie with the flank steak to marinate.  Add almond butter to the rest of the liquid in the blender and blend again until smooth. Because I put this together in the morning, I poured the sauce into a bowl and covered it with plastic wrap.  I put the sauce in the fridge until dinnertime.

If you put the steak in the fridge to marinate, take it out and let it come to room temp before grilling.  Grill the steak to medium rare.  Let it rest for at least 10 minutes, then slice thinly.

Assemble lettuce cups – steak, pickled veggies, avocado and sauce.  (Or wrap it all in a tortilla.)  Eat and enjoy!