Asian Chickpea Lettuce Wraps
By: Ashley
Published: Thursday, January 5, 2012 - 9:09am

Ingredients




2-14oz cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp thai style chili sauce
2 tbsp hoison sauce
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sirachi sauce, optional
1/2 cup chopped basil, optional
6-8 lettuce leaves, Bibb, boston or romaine leaves

Preparation

1 Drain and rinse both cans of chickpeas. 2 Place chickpeas in a food processor and puree in 5-10 second increments. You do not want to turn the chickpeas into a mash, you simply want to grind them into pieces. 3 Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a pan and heat. 4 Add the chickpeas and let cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, continuously stirring so as not to burn. 5 Add remaining ingredients, except basil, and stir. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occassionally. 6 If using basil leaves, add them and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring the basil in and allowing it to wilt. 7 Wash lettuce leaves and pat dry. 8 Spoon a healthy serving of chickpea mixture onto lettuce wraps and serve immediately. Drizzle with sirachi sauce if desired.

About

A few months back I posted this recipe for Spicy Basil Lettuce Chicken Wraps. Made with PF Chang's lettuce wraps in mind, I created the aformentioned recipe as a healthier alternative. PF Chang's version is laden with calories, carbohydrates (22% of your daily recommended value) and unhealthy fats (15% of your daily recommended saturated fat allocation). As an aside, check out LiveStrong.com for more nutritional facts about Pf Chang's lettuce wraps and other restaurant food reviews.
Having not made this in months, my desire to eat an almost entirely meat based dish has gone straight out the window. Whipping up a vegetarian version seemed like the only logical solution. When in doubt, substitute beans for chicken. Which type of beans just depends on the taste you are going for. Chickpeas pack the perfect punch for the vegetarian version of this recipe. They can be broken down into a semi-ground state perfectly and they soak up the asian flavors of this dish, not missing a single beat in the world of hoison, soy and chili sauces, rice vinegar, and basil. The flavorful chickpeas placed on an incredibly fresh piece of lettuce leave little room for cravings. Instead, this recipe leaves you wanting more and more.