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Friday, July 23, 2010

Lettuce Wrap with Sprouts Salad

Hey everyone.. light summer lunch today. I had never had lettuce wraps before. Tried them at a restaurant once and was totally bowled over by the incredible idea! First breads were replaced by tortillas, now tortillas have been replaced by lettuce! What next, one may ask..

Fig.1. Lettuce Wrap with Sprouts Salad

Ok, I admit I will shortly be replacing iceberg lettuce with savoy cabbage when you read on. ;) I felt it was a mite stronger than lettuce, also a bit larger. So I could wrap it quite reasonably and it held the stuffing better. But I am still calling it Lettuce Wraps. :)

The versions I have tasted at restaurants have mostly been soy sauce based with non-veg stuffing. Sometime later I noticed this Sprouts Salad version at Manjula's Kitchen. I loved the combination she has suggested here - oranges and tomatoes with lightly cooked green moong sprouts. I couldn't get the idea of that cool, juicy, sweet and salty combination out of my head. Just had to try it!

I followed most of her recipe, modified the dressing sauce a tiny bit.
Ingredients:
For Salad:
Whole green moong - 3/4 cup (Soak this in plenty of water overnight. Then drain it and let it sit in a dark, covered vessel for a few hours or so till it sprouts. May need to wet and drain every so often if the moong dries out. Warm weather will help. Cold weather may take longer.)
Tomatoes - 2 large, chopped into large pieces
Oranges - 2 large, peeled and chopped into large pieces
Cucumber - 1 medium chopped into large pieces (I skipped these this time round, but will remember to get this next time)
Green chillies - 1 finely chopped
Cilantro - a few sprigs, finely chopped

For dressing:
Soy sauce - 2 tablespoons or more
Ginger - 1 medium piece, finely grated, or more if you like ginger
Black pepper - tiny sprinkle
Salt - to taste

For wrap:
About 6 whole leaves of iceberg lettuce (I used savoy cabbage this time) 

Procedure:
1) Add just enough water to the sprouts to cover them (I did this in a microwave-safe bowl). Heat in the microwave for about 4-5 minutes till the sprouts are lightly cooked and somewhat soft. Drain leftover water (use it in soup or something else). Add salt to the sprouts, mix well and let them cool in the refrigerator.
2) When it's time to serve, take the salted chilled sprouts with tomatoes, oranges, cucumber, green chilles, chopped cilantro together in a bowl.  Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a separate small bowl and add it to the salad. Lightly toss.
3) Now scoop some of the salad on to a lettuce/cabbage leaf, roll up the leaf into a wrap and dig in! 

Verdict: Cool, spicy and just perfect for summer! Definitely a keeper! Thanks, Manjula!

For lunch the next day: I tore up the leaves into pieces and packed them in a small snack bag. I separately packed the sprouts-salad+dressing in an airtight box. Then at lunchtime I added the leaves to the salad box and lightly mixed. That way the salad was not soggy.

Thanks for reading everyone!

This post goes to
1) Let's Sprout an event at Priya's Easy and Tasty blog where Priya is collecting recipes using sprouts.
2) My Legume Love Affair hosted by Siri of Siri's Corner, originally started by Susan, the Well Seasoned Cook.
3) Blog Bites # 5 where Nupur of One Hot Stove is collecting recipes for Sandwiches and Wraps.

Thanks to the gracious hosts for hosting these events and putting in your time and effort doing round-ups! Cheers!

24 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, that's a lovely presentation of salad. I will surely try it out next time.

Priya Suresh said...

Wowww, i dont bother to grab rite now...fantastic wrap looks awesome..thanks for sending..

Satya said...

super idea to use lettuce as a wrap ..i love lettuce and use it only in salads or sandwiches ..this wrap looks gorgeous and healthy too... this is a new idea .. thanks for sharing

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Sushma Mallya said...

it looks so good and so healthy...

SS blogs here said...

Thanks, Priya! :)

Hey Priya, thanks for the compliment and for hosting the event!

Hi Satya, yes the lettuce was quite a novelty for me too. Thanks!

Thanks, Sushma! :)

Pavithra Srihari said...

hey am kind of now addicted to this lettuce wraps ... the way u said cool,juicy salty is making my mouth water :P .. i have already tried this and i just loved it da

Nupur said...

Thanks for the lovely entry- I must try this asap.

SS blogs here said...

Hey Pavithra.. I guess that was very descriptive .. "cool, juicy, sweet and salty" .. but it tastes exactly like it sounds!! :)

Thanks, Nupur!

Simplyfood said...

Beautiful click and lovely recipe.

SS blogs here said...

Thanks, Nayna! :)

SpicyTasty said...

Nice lettuce wrap and healthy too. Love it.

Aparna S Mallya said...

wow, delicious wraps those!

Akila said...

Wow that was lovely one...

When you find time do visit my blog and I would like to invite you to participate in the events CID-2010 and DNSW: A by sending your special recipes.

Thanks

Bong Mom said...

The pic is beautiful. I like the lunch packing idea, that surely will work well

SS blogs here said...

Thanks, Shriya, Aparna and Sandeepa.

Akila, thanks for visiting. I will surely check out your place.

Cheers everyone!

Priya Suresh said...

Regarding ur q'n about puttu,Puttu is a steam cooked cake like dish usually prepared with a special utensil called puttu maker or else in pressure cooker..its not like upma at all..both are completely different..hope i cleared ur doubt:)..

Red Chillies said...

I came here from Sandeepa's blog and you have a cool blog here. Loved your writing , your wit and of course your recipes.
I loved this lettuce wraps and the addition of sprouts in it.

SS blogs here said...

Hey Red Chillies.. Thanks for stopping by and the sweet comment! I am honoured! :)

Supriya said...

Gr8 idea to make vege lettuce wraps....Just like PF Chang's lettuce wraps :)

SS blogs here said...

Hey Supriya.. Thanks for visiting and the compliment. :)

Vani said...

First time here. Love your blog. The lettuce wraps look yum. And is wholesome too.

SS blogs here said...

Thanks, Vani. Hope to see you around. Cheers!

sanjeeta kk said...

Lovely color. Nice to be here. best wishes.

SS blogs here said...

Thanks, Sanjeeta!

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