I recently went thru a 10-day detox fast. You know, the kind where you eat raw food for two days, then no solid food for six days followed by another two days of raw food. And by "raw" I don't mean sushi - I mean apples, oranges, almonds, carrots, celery - you get the picture. It was insanely difficult for the first 3 days. Cooking for our family of six while NOT EATING is the equivalent of a suicide mission. After day 3 however, I felt awesome! I had so much more energy! I am now a big believer in the detox fast and I know it will become a regular bi-monthly routine for me. The benefits far outweigh those miserable first three days.
When I finished the fast and was ready for regular food again, one of the first things I made was lettuce wraps. I must've been terribly hungry that day because I double the recipe certain that I was going to need extra - I ended up freezing a batch. And now that I'm preparing to move six hours away I am doing the clean-out-the-deep-freeze shuffle and will find these wraps on my plate again soon.
Asian Lettuce Wraps
16 boston bibb or butter lettuce leaves
1 lb. ground pork
1 tbs. vegetable or canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1/4 c. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. giner
1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 (8oz) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
6-8 scallions, chopped
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
Rinse lettuce leaves and pat dry, trying not to tear them. In a large skillet, brown the pork over med-high heat in the cooking oil. Drain and set aside. Cook the onion in the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar - give a quick stir to combine and then add the water chestnuts, scallions, sesame oil, and cooked pork to your skillet. Cook until the scallions just begin to wilt. Spoon meat mixture into lettuce leaves, wrap like a burrito and enjoy!