Thai Beef Lettuce Wraps

The meat mixture has long been a favorite in my family for its wonderful flavor. The dipping sauce is how restaurants do it and is a nice extra, but absolutely not required. The condiments may be mixed up well ahead of time and refrigerated, I often chop the veggies earlier in the day, too. That way, the dish can be assembled in no time. Sometimes, I cook rice vermicelli noodles and place a small amount of those on the lettuce leaf before the meat mixture. As an option, this meal can be enjoyed as a salad bowl, with or without the rice noodles.

Yields: 4-6 servings.

Ingredients

The meat mixture has long been a favorite in my family for its wonderful flavor. The dipping sauce is how restaurants do it and is a nice extra, but absolutely not required. The condiments may be mixed up well ahead of time and refrigerated, I often chop the veggies earlier in the day, too. That way, the dish can be assembled in no time.
Sometimes, I cook rice vermicelli noodles and place a small amount of those on the lettuce leaf before the meat mixture. As an option, this meal can be enjoyed as a salad bowl, with or without the rice noodles.
Yields: 4-6 servings.

In a small bowl, mix together the Thai red curry paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, and garlic powder. Set aside. If using, mix together the dipping sauce ingredients in a separate small bowl and set them aside, too.
Finely chop the mushrooms and the onion. In a large sauté pan coated with olive oil, cook the mushrooms and onion over medium to medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until the mushrooms release all their liquid and are nicely browned, about 8-10 minutes. Add the ground beef, and continue to cook until the meat is browned, breaking it up as it cooks. When the meat is about halfway cooked, stir in the curry paste mixture (not the dipping sauce if you mixed that up, too), stirring to evenly coat the meat.
To serve: scoop some of the meat mixture on top of individual lettuce leaves. Top with the julienned vegetables and other recommended toppings, as desired. Roll the lettuce around the filling (sort of like a burrito) and enjoy!

For a soy-free option to soy sauce, coconut aminos work beautifully. It may sounds strange, but I have used in place of soy sauce and no one has noticed a difference. As an added bonus, this is a lower-sodium, gluten-free options as well.
For the dipping sauce, my original recipe called for chili paste. Since this is a condiment I hardly used–and I figured it might be one that others would have to buy just for this recipe–I tried several substitutes. Sriracha sauce is my favorite; the Thai red curry paste used in the meat mixture is delicious, too, for those who prefer no spiciness. All of these items can be found in the Asian section of most larger grocery stores.