Monday, April 8, 2013

Vegan Lettuce Wraps with portabella mushrooms & mango

Lettuce wraps are a favorite of mine. I've made them different ways, with different ingredients but they always come out tasty. That may sound like I'm just tootin' (haha-behold, my inner child) my own horn when really I'm just trying to say these are so easy to make. You can't mess it up. The recipe is nothing extravagant (but still tasty!) so it's easy to build off of and experiment with. Just grab an assortment of veggies from your fridge and start dicing.

Don't make my mistake and add the carrots while cooking. I prefer mixing in the carrot sticks after and enjoying the crunchy texture against the cooked veggies.

Vegan Lettuce Wraps

with portabella mushrooms and mango

Vermicelli noodles

Butter lettuce

1 package of tempeh, sliced into thin strips

2 portabella mushrooms, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1" ginger, minced

3 green onion stalks, chopped & white/green parts separated

2 stalks celery, diced

1 large carrot, matchsticks

1 mango, diced

handful of raw cashews

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp hoisin sauce*

2 tbsp soy sauce

Prepare vermicelli noodles according to package and set aside. Heat oil in large skillet, medium-high heat. Cook tempeh for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in garlic, ginger, and white parts of green onion. Stir fry for about 1 minute before tossing in mushrooms, celery,and onions. Add hoisin and soy sauce and cook for another 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat, mix in carrots and mango. Top with remaining green onions.

Place vermicelli noodles on top of butter lettuce, then top with veggie filling. Eat them as is or with a spicy sauce.

*Don't trust that bottle of hoisin from the grocery store? Try searching for an easy homemade vegan version. I used one from a vegan cookbook so I'm not going to post it here but from searching online, the recipes are all very very similar.