Quinoa Lettuce Wraps with Easy Peanut Sauce

I am so excited to have Sonnet here today to share an amazingly easy and delicious recipe with you! Sonnet blogs over at For The Love of Food. I’ve been a fan of Sonnet’s for a while and love her fresh ideas with food. Make sure you drop by her website and say hi!

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My name is Sonnet and I’m a holistic health coach and the voice behind For The Love of Food , a seasonal, plant-based food blog filled with healthy, hearty recipes and my quirky humor. I’m so excited to be here while Wendy is out welcoming her baby girl! I’ve been a big fan of Wendy’s blog for awhile and I love her creativity when it comes to making new recipes with quinoa and creating dishes that the whole family will enjoy.

Today I have a super easy and fresh quinoa recipe to share with you, but first let me ask you a question: do you struggle with getting your family members to eat their vegetables?

I know I do.

Between my job as a seasonal foods educator for children and living with the pickiest adult I’ve ever met, I have some tricks up my sleeve for getting kids (and adults!) to eat their veggies.

Trick #1: Roast ’em.

Roasting brings out the natural sweetness in vegetables and is a fabulous way to enjoy any vegetable, especially the hearty root vegetables so prevalent in colder months. These roasted golden beets have even transformed a few beet-haters into beet-lovers. It’s like magic.

Trick #2: Bake ’em.

Something incredible happens when people try their first kale chip. Their eyes light up, they start to smile, and they quickly reach for another one. Baked kale chips are more addictive than Pringles. Seriously.

Trick #3: Blend ’em.

This is the technique that never fails. Grab your pickiest-eating child and have them help assemble this Kale Smoothie for Kids . Let them tear up the kale and toss it in the blender, pour in the apple juice, and throw in a few bananas. Then voila! Suddenly you’ve created a green smoothie fanatic that will never stop asking if there is kale in the house.

The key to making this smoothie is to let your child (or your favorite picky-eating adult) help with the prep work. When a child (or adult) is involved in the process, they feel invested in the outcome and are more excited to try something new and unfamiliar. This idea of getting family members involved in the prep is what inspired my newest trick:

Trick #4: Wrap ’em.

These lettuce wraps are loaded with fresh veggies, protein, and healthy fats, but they taste so delicious you won’t think about the fact that you are eating your vegetables. These wraps include green leaf lettuce, cucumber, carrots, red radishes, fresh basil, quinoa, and an easy peanut sauce.

I like to lay out the ingredients and let family members assemble their own wraps. You can easily adapt these wraps to include other ingredients, such as avocado slices, fresh cilantro, jicama, daikon radish, pineapple, mango, apples, pears, or fresh mint. These wraps are fabulous as a snack or side dish, or you can add your some baked tofu and make them into an entree!

Now let’s get wrapping!

Print

Quinoa Lettuce Wraps with Easy Peanut Sauce

Author Wendy Polisi

Ingredients

• 1 head green leaf lettuce
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 bunch red radishes cut into matchsticks
• 2 english cucumbers seeded and cut into matchsticks
• 2 medium carrots peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 1 large bunch fresh basil
• Easy Peanut Sauce
• 1/2 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup optional

Instructions

1. Wash lettuce leaves and lay flat on paper towels to dry.
2. Prep other ingredients and lay out on plates or a cutting board for easy assembly.
3. Let family members fill and wrap their own lettuce leaves.
4. Dip in the sauce and enjoy!
5. Sauce
6. Mix ingredients together and chill until serving.

Recipe Notes

This recipe is vegetarian, vegan (egg-free and dairy-free), and gluten-free. To make it soy-free, simply leave out the tamari sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos. This recipe can also be made peanut-free by substituting almond butter in the dipping sauce. If a sugar-free sauce is desired, simply omit the maple syrup.
Servings 8, Calories 280, Fat 10.6g, Carbohydrates 35.9g, Protein 12.2g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 276mg, Fiber 5.3g, Sugars 5g