Tacos are often my go-to solution when I need a quick lunch or dinner. But the other day I had some butter lettuce on hand and decided why not make quick lettuce wraps instead of traditional tacos.
I quickly sliced a sweet onion, which is my favorite type of onion because they are delicious and result in less crying while you slice them :). I heated some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and added the sliced onion. I seasoned the onions with salt and pepper. Then I added a teaspoon of sugar, which is a neat trick to speed up the carmelization process. While some would say that it fakes the carmelization process, I am not always a purist when I only have a few minutes to get some food that looks and tastes good onto the table. I let the onions cook on medium low until they were tender and partially carmelized (remember this is a quick recipe—I didn’t have time to let them cook longer).
While the onions cooked, I washed and dried six butter lettuce leaves.
Then for the fast filling. Last time I cooked a roast in my crock pot, I froze the leftovers in small serving sizes for the next time I needed a quick meal. I took that leftover roast out of the freezer and thawed it in the microwave with a little beef broth (a pantry staple for me) to keep it moist. When the roast was thawed and warm, I shredded it.
Then I placed some roast on each lettuce leaf and topped it with the quickly cooked onions and some picante sauce (another pantry staple in our house). I added some leftover cheesy hash browns (see the recipe tab) and had a quick weekend meal in about 15-20 minutes (if not less—I forgot to time it).
If you don’t have leftover hash browns (I usually wouldn’t), just heat a can of beans, or better yet, freeze small servings next time you cook a big pot of beans. You can reheat those in the microwave too!
Lettuce wraps are just like tacos—almost any leftover fillings can be turned into a fast, tasty meal! Have fun experimenting—consider leftover chicken, pork chops, pork shoulder, steak, hamburger, grilled or roasted vegetables …
© 2014 FoodieOasis
