As I mentioned yesterday, I had lettuce coming out of my ears at one point. Hungry made the comment that she’s used lettuce leaves as “taco shells” so I set out to do just that.
I had a ton of scallions from my CSA as well, so that was the topping.
BeerBoor gifted me a large jar of almond butter, so I doctored that to make a sauce as well.
But you want to know what the protein was… it’s so simple, I almost shouldn’t even mention this.
A package of Trader Joe’s “bool kogi” (bulgogi, marinated meat slices). I found these tasty several years ago and bought packs of it whenever I saw it since they ran out quickly whenever they restocked, and took to freezing the extras until I felt like eating it. And because the lovely FBM’ers won’t let this slide without putting it in the comments, I’ll admit upfront that this package was one I found kicking around in the freezer… with an expiration date of more than a few years ago. I ate it, I didn’t get sick, I was totally fine… it’s vacuum sealed in two different sheets of plastic, so maybe that’s why, but whatever. It still tasted good 😛
And while I like it, it’s nothing like ‘real’ bulgogi, which tends to be sliced thin and chopped small… which is why I don’t like it. These are thick slices of beef, and you can cook them medium rare if you so choose (I generally aim for that). They come out juicy and delicious. I just drop them into a preheated heavy-bottomed skillet with no oil since the marinade has oil in it, then flip when it starts looking browned on one side. I got some nice caramelization on these, then sliced them into small pieces for the lettuce wraps.
As for the almond butter – I mixed with a little sesame oil, a teensy bit of soy sauce, and some rice wine vinegar to taste… and a little Sriracha, which totally kicked my taste buds around a little bit. Play with the proportions to find a concoction that you like!
And the pink round discs…! Pickled French breakfast radishes. Yup, I pickled them a few days earlier and was wondering what to do with them. This worked out fantastically – the slightly sour-pickly taste and the crunch really elevated these wraps to new levels.
I found this recipe that seemed to work rather well. I tweaked it a bit – I somehow didn’t have my plain clover honey, so I used the super fancy ulmo honey I have, which imparted a lovely floral scent to the pickles. I kept the garlic cloves whole, so I’ll be eating those eventually – yum! I think those are about the tweaks I made, I may have also added some mirin… just because I had it. Also, I rarely ever follow recipes exactly, it’s worked out better for me this way.
Happy eating! What’s on your Friday menu?
TT says
you ate expired meat? EWWWWW
such a creative dish!
i thought the radishes were sliced cherry tomatoes at first. oops.
no idea what i am eating today, had a huge dinner last night and am still full.
Feisty Foodie says
They are pink on the outside! So they do sort of look like that. The pink bleeds out when you pickle them too. Thanks, I was proud of myself for thinking of it too 🙂
Susan says
Just ate a bacon butty lol
T.C. says
As long as it is real meat. Nice treat!
Hungry says
Yay! Glad you look lettuce to make something besides salad. Looks delicious, minus the old meat tidbit.