Lettuce Boats

Lettuce Boats1As the holidays approach, we love indulging ourselves in all the favorite foods – wine, cheese platter, chips, meat, etc. I’m seeing a lot of Christmas ads at the shops like cold meat platter, prepacked dips, tons of cheese and crackers, discounted chips and soft drinks. Seriously? Plan ahead and shop smart. I want to see more fresh seasonal homemade foods on the table that are made with love.

This is a great finger food and a healthy delight, perfect for entree or appetiser. You can taste freshness in every single bite. It is healthy, crunchy, light, pretty and no mess to eat. You can put any kind of fillings in lettuce cups, maybe add some protein (fresh diced tuna, chopped poached chicken breast, boiled eggs) to make a complete meal. Mine just had some veggies for afternoon snack. Butter lettuce and endive both work quite well to hold the fillings in, but endive has a fairly bitter taste. I will list some good flavour combinations below, but feel free to be creative and make your own 🙂

Serving suggestions:
boiled egg salad
curried chicken
chilli-peppered tofu
braised lentils with feta cheese
chorizo, halloumi, tomato salsa
apple, brie cheese, currents, walnut
Asian minced pork
prawns, mango, avocado
Mediterranean couscous salad
beef with horseradish sauce

I finely chopped tomato, avocado, kale and celery. Put them in a mixing bowl and dressed with simple dressing made of lemon juice, olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the filling onto the lettuce cups. Serve as entree or snack.
Lettuce Boats