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 …

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