Fast, fresh and flavorful, these Asian beef and lettuce wraps should be a must-have on your dinner table. They have a combination of a sweet meaty mixture with crunchy bok choy and cashews served over rice and wrapped up in a crisp lettuce leaf. I'm so glad my brain dreamed these up.
Recipe by Meal Planning 101
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Serves 3-4
1 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 green onions, chopped with whites and greens separated
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce (I recommend Asian Family)
1/2 cup water*
1/2 cups baby bok choy, chopped
1/2 cup raw cashews
Butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce, separated into leaf cups
Prepared rice
Prepare your rice according to package directions.
In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, brown the beef about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic, whites of onions, salt and pepper and saute until mushrooms are browned about 4-6 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add the hoisin sauce, water and bok choy. Stir to combine and simmer until the sauce thickens and the bok choy gets tender about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
While the beef mixture is simmering, place the raw cashews in a small, dry frying pan over medium heat. Watch them carefully and toss them around until they turn a nice golden color on the outside. Remove from pan to a cutting board. Let cool for a few minutes then chop coarsely with a sharp knife.
Stir the cashews and green part of onion into the beef mixture. Serve with lettuce cups and rice. You could spoon both rice and cashew-beef mixture into the lettuce cups and eat, or just the beef mixture and eat the rice separately. It's up to you, but in my humble opinion, it's ALL delicious.
*Adjust the amount of water you use depending on the thickness of your hoisin sauce. Mine is REALLY thick.
Click here for printable version of Hoisin Cashew Beef in Lettuce Cups
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THE RESULTS?
I'm pretty sure my husband moaned when he ate this. We all (kids included) LOVED this dish and after eating it only once I think it just pushed its way to the top of our family favorites list. The bok choy and cashews provide nice crunch to the sweet, meaty mixture. The lettuce wraps are fresh and lovely, but I could just as easily eat this just over rice and be completely satisfied.
I'm sure I've mentioned before what a Hoisin Sauce snob I am. I find that most brands have a strong Chinese 5 spice flavor that I really don't dig. Cinnamon, cloves and anise (licorice) are not my thing when it comes to savory food. With that being said, I will drive across the city to find a bottle of Asian Kitchen Hoisin Sauce. It is rich, thick and sticky sweet with no 5-spice flavor. Safeway carries this brand, as does Walmart (sometimes). Use whatever brand of hoisin is your favorite, but adjust the amount of water you use based on how thick your sauce is. Mine is so thick it's like a paste.
Being a "Foodie" I love complex flavors and finding the balance between salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami in food. But you wanna know my ultimate flavor affinity?
crispy + melty cheese + cool creamy sour cream = Best. Ever.
Craving a snack? I most definitely ALWAYS make a plate of Nachos (minus the beef).
Want a wicked side dish or appy? Gots to be Potato Skins.
Going for the mom of the year award with your kids? Bake up some fabulous Shredded Chicken Flautas.
I'll take my "crispy" however you want to give it to me, as long as you pair it with melty, ooey, gooey cheese and top it with cool creamy sour cream. It pretty much goes without saying that this is the way I MUST eat my Mexican food. While I have had good enchiladas and burritos I much prefer the crunch of a crispy tortilla. So when I discovered that a chimichanga is the goodness of a burrito deep-fried so it has a crispy shell, I was ALL OVER THAT.
Except for the deep frying part. If you drizzle a bit of oil on these puppies and bake them in a hot oven, the tortilla becomes almost like a pastry with flaky crispiness.
Give these a whirl on your next taco night.
Recipe by Meal Planning 101
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Serves 4-6
3/4 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 19oz can of navy beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp taco sauce
1/4 cup salsa
1 tbsp taco seasoning (homemade or store-bought)
1/4 cup water
10 inch flour tortillas
Canola oil
Shredded cheddar optional
Taco Sauce
Sour Cream
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a frying pan over medium high heat, brown the ground beef, garlic and onions about 6-8 minutes until the beef is cooked through and the onions are tender. Add the navy beans, salt, pepper, taco sauce, salsa, cumin, chili powder, oregano and water. Stir to combine. Turn heat down to medium low and let simmer a few minutes until thickened. Remove from heat.
In the middle of a flour tortilla, spoon about 1/2 cup of the beef and bean mixture in a line down the middle, leaving about 2 inches from either side. Add grated cheese if you want. Fold in the sides of the tortilla and tightly roll the bottom of the tortilla over the mixture until you have a burrito. Place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet. Continue until all the beef and beans have been rolled up (this will probably make about 6).
Drizzle the top of the burritos with a bit of canola oil and rub it all over so they are thinly coated. Place in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, flip and bake another 10-12 minutes until lightly browned and crispy. Serve with more taco sauce drizzled over the top and sour cream for dipping.
Click here for printable version of Beef and Bean Chimichangas
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THE RESULTS?
You know those taco kits where you get both flour tortillas and crispy corn tortillas? That's usually what our family has to get if we want a taco night since I NEED crispiness and my husband hates the mess of the crisp taco shells. Well NO MORE! This leaves us both satisfied and reaching for more. The filling is totally versatile and you could substitute with leftover shredded chicken, pork, beef or even rice. I made a version of these with Taco Rice with Corn and Black Beans, Refried Beans and a bit of ground beef and shredded cheddar and they were excellent. I'm loving these; they have the same addictiveness as my Shredded Chicken Flautas.
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