Lettuce isn't just perfect for a salad, but great for wraps. I've heard of lettuce wraps before, primarily with tofu inside, which is still delicious, but I've discovered you can use lettuce as a wrap with so, so much more.
I was out to lunch with my dad over the Thanksgiving holidays and we shared an appetizer which caught our attention when we looked over the menu. Elk lettuce wraps. Sounds good, right? This was new to me in two ways: A new kind of lettuce wrap and eating elk. I've never had elk before, but it was good. After a bad bite of tough meat, the rest of the elk was tender and delicious. The restaurant made these wraps southwestern style with a chunky mango salsa and cotija cheese. I had never heard of cotija cheese and learned later that it's a cheese from Mexico and is only produced between the months of July and October because the cows that produce this kind of milk are only fed the kind of grass necessary to make the cheese. It's a salty, grainy, firm cheese and is most similar to feta or some Italian parmesan. Anyway, getting back to the elk wraps, they were a creative way to eat elk as an appetizer. The only problem was that they were hard to eat when wrapped up and with hands - everything fell out and the lettuce easily ripped. But I could try and make something like at home. Definitely worth it.
My second recent experience with lettuce wraps was inspired from another restaurant outing. After going out to dinner with my parents, I tried to recreate this dish. Quinoa Lettuce Cups. This was essentially a lettuce wrap instead of a cup. Using a large piece of bibb lettuce as the base "cup" I put a spoonful of quinoa first, then marinated finely chopped tomatoes (I marinated the tomatoes in balsamic vinegar for about an hour or so before putting them in the wrap) and chunky-chopped avocado. Roll it all up and there you have it. I had the same issues with the elk wraps about the lettuce easily ripping, but it's still so good. Maybe next time I should try using two pieces of lettuce to make it a stronger wrap?
