This recipe is a low-investment but high-reward dish. These chicken lettuce wraps are no-fuss, flavorful, and a healthy choice. The tender ground chicken is cooked in an addictive sweet and salty Asian sauce, then piled inside crisp lettuce cups. 

Annie and Javi call it “larb” after a similar Thai dish. This is a regular dish in their weekly rotation and  even fit into Annie’s anti-inflammatory diet after a surgical procedure. The recipe is from my favorite cookbook by Melissa Clark: Dinner, Changing the Game. It is a super fun meal to eat, providing a good source of low-fat protein and featuring mounds of vegetables. Note, if you are feeling like eating some carbs, it is also great inside a taco.

The original recipe used ground pork, which I am sure is delightful. Annie and Javi use ground turkey to be more health-conscious. I use ground chicken, which I think is perfect for this recipe.

Recipe from Melissa Clark – Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 T Soy sauce
• 1 T Fish sauce
• 1 t Lime juice with zest added
• 1/2 t Honey
• 1/8 t Salt plus more as needed
• 1 T Peanut oil
• 3 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 t Chili garlic sauce the kind with the rooster on it
• 1 Scallion, chopped
• 1 Stalk lemongrass, trimmed and minced
• 1 lb Ground Chicken
• 1 Head Bibb lettuce
• 5 C Baby spinach
• ½ C Fresh basil torn into pieces
• Cashews, shallots, shredded carrots, lime wedges, and lettuce leaves (bibb lettuce)

Directions

• In a small bowl, whisk together the soy and fish sauce, lime zest and juice, honey, and salt.  Set aside.
• Heat the peanut oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, chili, scallions, and lemon grass. Cook until fragrant (30 seconds).
• Stir in the chicken until it is well browned and most of the juices have evaporated (about seven minutes). Use a flat spatula so that it can get brown and crispy on the bottom.  
• Add the soy sauce mixture and cook for one minute.
• Stir in the spinach and cook until it is wilted.  Toss in the basil, taste, and adjust seasoning.
• Transfer the meat mixture onto a platter. Surround it with mounds of scallions, limes, cashews, carrots, and lettuce leaves for wrapping.