Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I've been seriously craving lettuce wraps, to be specific The Yard House's lettuce wraps...I just haven't had the funds to support my craving taste buds. So, I always get inspired to cook when my soon-to-be-in-laws are out of town and Marc and I have the house to ourselves. Marc just started back a school, so I really had the house all to myself one night last week and decided it would be a good night to try to make lettuce wraps. I knew I had thawed ground turkey, so on my way home from Dance Lessons, I googled "ASIAN LETTUCE WRAPS" on my wonderful IPhone and made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up some ingredients! I happened to google this great recipe site, that I will def. continue to reference - http://www.allrecipes.com/. The specific recipe called for pork, which I substituted for Ground Turkey and it also sets you up to make white rice, I did a Sandra Lee - Semi-Homemade and bought the Uncle Ben's 90 sec. Ready Rice packs, which are AMAZING! OK, so here is what you'll need:

INGREDIENTS
4 cups water
2 cups uncooked white rice (or 1-2 Uncle Ben's Ready Rice, I like Original Long Grain)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground turkey
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
2 carrots, shredded
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce (I picked up Hoisin - Garlic sauce - YUMMY!)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or GF alternative)
1 teaspoon sesame oil (I eliminated this ingredient)
1/4 teaspoon hot chile paste (I used Chile Sauce - worked just as good)
1 bunch of romaine lettuce leaves, separated (Cabbage would also work!)

HOW TO:1. In a saucepan (a wok works best) combine the water and rice. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, until water is absorbed. Set aside and keep warm. (If you end up using the Ready Rice packs, I waited about a 1 minute before I was ready to serve the lettuce wraps).

2.Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Cook the ground turkey, green onions, and garlic for 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly brown. Add the tofu, carrot, Hoisin, and soy sauce, stirring frequently until heated through. Remove from heat, and stir in the sesame oil and chile paste.

3. To serve: spoon a small amount of rice into each lettuce leaf, top with the stir-fry mixture, and drizzle with additional soy sauce or hoisin, if desired. I don't like rice in my lettuce wraps, so it was a side for my dish...but I did spoon the stir-fry mixture into the lettuce leaf. Also on the side I had a soy sauce and hoisin dipping dish.

The end result was sooo delish!!

FOOT NOTES:

Optional additional stir fry ingredients-
These may be used in place of or in addition to the tofu: chopped peanuts, peppers, shrimp, rice noodles, diced chicken, scrambled egg or bean sprouts.

This was very helpful to me, since i had NO idea what Hoisin sauce was! :)
Hoisin sauce, also called Peking sauce, is a thick, reddish-brown sauce that is sweet and spicy, and widely used in Chinese cooking. It's a mixture of soybeans, garlic, chile peppers and various spices. It can be found in the Asian or ethnic section at your local grocery store.