Serves 4-6
Ingredients: 2-3 heads of butter lettuce 1 carrot, peeled and julienned 1 C red cabbage, shaved 1 C jicama, julienned
1 C fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 C basil leaves, torn into 1/4 in pieces 1-2 C tofu, hard pack (cut into cubes and toss with olive oil, curry powder, s&p; spread onto tray and bake at 400) 1-2 C poached, large U-12 shrimp, chopped (poach in water with half lemon, 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig fresh or 1 t dried thyme, 3 cloves smashed garlic, salt, peppercorn)
1 C vermicelli rice noodles Garnishes:
1 shallot, pickled (thin slice and toss with apple cider vinegar, 1t lemon juice, 1t sugar, pinch of salt)
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha
Sesame oil
Serrano Honey (warm 1/4 C honey on stovetop and add 1 shaved serrano, cool)
Sliced green onion
Anything you like!
Directions:
Tofu:
Preheat oven to 425°. Cut tofu into 1/2 inch diced cubes. Toss in ingredients listed above. Spread evenly on sheet tray. Bake for about 10-15 min until golden. Pull from oven and gently shake pan a few times to loosen and prevent sticking (you may need a spatula to move them around). Let cool completely. These make a great snack anytime!
Shrimp:
Fill medium saucepan with water and ingredients listed above. Bring to a boil. Set up an ice bath to put shrimp in after poaching. Once boiling, add shrimp carefully. Cook for 3 min. Strain off poaching liquid and put shrimp in ice bath. Strain and let dry.
Noodles:
Fill a large saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil. Carefully drop noodles into water. Cook around 3 min until soft and translucent. Strain water, toss lightly in olive oil, and spread on sheet pan to cool.
Pickled Shallot:
Thin slice shallots and put into small bowl. Add ingredients listed above. Let marinate. These are ready within 20 min, but will keep for several weeks and only get better with time!
Serrano Honey:
Put honey in a small saucepan and set on low heat. Thinly slice serrano. Once the honey is warm, remove from heat, add serrano and let cool. This goes great on so many things (I highly recommend it on brussel sprouts!)...you can adjust the level of spice but adding or lessening the amount of honey.
Once you have all the cooking done and everything is cooling, wash (I fill a sink with cool water and vinegar) and cut your vegetables. Peel off leaves of butter lettuce, wash and lay on a towel to dry. You can use a salad spinner, but I don't recommend it as it can bruise the delicate leaves. You can use the larger leaves on their own or layer the smaller leaves to create the "wrap." Once you have your veg cut, herbs picked, lettuce leaves laid out, you can start layering ingredients. I put about a tablespoon of noodles down, the carrots, jicama, and whatever fresh veggies you may want. I put garnishes in small dishes on the side to allow each guest to add as much or little as they want.
The main thing with this recipe is to have fun!! Mix it up and make it your own! Enjoy!