Monday, January 10, 2011

Simple Suppers - Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

The holidays are way over, and all of the pants in the FvF household are way tight.  I'll remind you all that I used to be a real porker and worked like a champ after my divorce to lose almost 30 pounds.  I managed not to gain a single pound for nearly two years.  I did the whole lifestyle change thing and eliminated most simple carbohydrates.  Unless it was donut day at work or something.  Don't you judge me!  
Anycrap, after my brief match with Prednisone in October, about 8 pounds have crept back on, and I simply am not havin' that shit.  So, our lunches and dinners are going back to the lower end of the glycemic index, as to make nice with our waistlines again.  


A lot of South Beach recipes don't appeal to me that much, so sometimes I'll take Adkins recipes and cut a lot of the fat out of them.  Everyone loves the lettuce cups at PF Chang's, but i don't have the patience to dice chicken or the stomach to put it in a food processor and think it'll ever be clean enough again.  I really don't care for ground chicken, either, since I'm allergic to nasty.


1 lb lean ground pork 
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups coleslaw mix w(I used broccoli slaw)
1 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp Splenda 
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp sesame salad dressing (optional)
8 lettuce leaves
Fresh cilantro and chow mein noodles, for garnish, optional


Brown the pork and onion in a skillet and drain the fat very well.  Add ginger, garlic and slaw until the veggies are crisp-tender - continue cooking over medium for about 2 minutes.  
Combine the next seven (or eight, if you're using the salad dressing) ingredients in a small bowl and add them to the pan, cooking another minute while stirring.  


Allow the pork to cool a bit before serving so that the mixture doesn't completely wilt your lettuce.  Because no matter what KFC would have you believe, no one likes hot lettuce.*  I used red Boston Bibb lettuce for it's sweetness,but it didn't hold up very well. I think next time I'll try Romaine leaves.  Spoon the lettuce into the cups, top with fancy garnishes and get down on this.  



*Damn you, Lorne Michaels, for crushing my dreams every time I want to post an SNL clip. Nothing would have illustrated this point finer than the KFC Shredders clip. 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

DANG IT...two allergens in this recipe for me.
Run into the soy thing a lot. It's in everything.
The hubby has a host of food allergies. SUX bigthyme for both of us.
The Splenda (and all artificial sweeteners) do me in. Instant migraines.
If any FvF readers have an alternative to soy, I would give my left teat for it.
This dish sounds soooooo good.

Butter said...

I'm a big man, I need a big shredder!

Goos said...

Shelly, you could go for a more vietnamese than thai flavor profile, and use fish sauce instead of soy sauce. It brings the saltiness like soy. I know there are vegetarian fish sauces available. I'd look for something mild, because some fish sauce is REALLY fish sauce. I'd also just omit the Splenda, personally, but I like lots of lime. The sourness appeals to me.

Post a Comment