Spicy Thai Peanut Lettuce Wraps with Chicken (very low fat and carb free)

These lettuce wraps are so delicious and satisfying. The peanut butter I use to make the spicy-thai marinade/dressing is powdered peanut butter, yes really! It has about 85% less fat than regular peanut butter. I add absolutely zero oil to the marinade and dressing and even so it is incredibly tasty. It’s salty, tangy, slightly sweet and makes your mouth water. This peanut sauce can be used as a salad dressing, on grilled chicken skewers, in pasta or really on anything you want to that would be great with a spicy-Thai-peanut flavor. The only oil or added fat in this recipe is the small amount of olive oil you add to coat your pan when you sauté your veggies and when you cook your meat, or the optional fat if you sprinkle chopped peanuts on top of your wraps. (Not at all required.)  Finally there are zero carbohydrates being used. Listen, I have no problem with carbs, I love them. I eat carbs and I enjoy them, but when I come across a recipe that tastes this incredible without them I am all for skipping and eating healthier.

I have become a little obsessed with how amazing powdered peanut butter is.  It packs in the peanut butter flavor with so much less fat and it tastes amazing — just like regular peanut butter! (At the bottom of this recipe I have included a photo of a few varieties of powdered peanut butter that I have seen in grocery stores.) I’ve been determined to create a savory recipe that showcases how versatile it can be for cooking since it tends be more obvious to use it for sweeter things like health shakes and yogurt like in my peanut butter mousse recipe found here on the blog. (YUM!)

As with every recipe that I create I encourage you to give it your own twist, add in any other veggies you may want to, make it more spicy or try a different kind of meat or even a different lettuce for the wraps. Whatever you try, I hope you enjoy these as much as we do.

RECIPE TUNES (because everything is always better with music)
Cooler Couler by Crookers  • No Interruption by Hoodie Allen  • A Love Song by Ladyhawke

INGREDIENTS

Low-fat spicy Thai Peanut Marinade and dressing
(Note: You will both use this while cooking to flavor your chicken and also set some aside to drizzle over your wraps when you eat.) Photo below of ingredients I used for this sauce. 

• 4 TBSP powdered peanut butter
• 2 TBSP water
• 2 TBSP tamari (or soy sauce, tamari is slightly less salty)
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 tsp minced or puréed garlic
• 1 tsp minced or puréed ginger
• 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp honey

Ingredients for your wraps

• 1 lb. ground chicken
• 1 small red pepper diced
• 2 small/medium green peppers (Cut into long thin slices as seen in pics below in the steps.)
• 2 scallions diced
• 1 medium onion cut in half
• 1 bunch/package of cilantro (See photos in steps below for quantity reference.)
• Olive oil to coat your pan twice (When cooking onions and peppers and then again when cooking your chicken.)
• Salt and pepper (Just a few pinches worth.)
• 2-3 heads of butter lettuce (They are small and you need the larger leaves for your wraps so at least get two in order to make many wraps.)

OPTIONAL

• Thinly sliced radishes. (Confession: I buy a very small amount of these already pre-sliced off the salad bar at Whole Foods since I only use a few slices per wrap.)
• Finely chopped peanuts (salted or not salted, up to you) for garnish, crunch and added flavor.

LETS COOK!

First you need to make the spicy-peanut sauce which you will use both when cooking but also as a sauce on the side for your wraps. 

1. Add all of the marinade/sauce ingredients into a deep bowl and whisk them together very thoroughly until all of the lumps of the powdered peanut butter are smooth and everything is well blended.
2. Pour about 1/3 of this sauce into a small container or bowl and set it aside to have for drizzling onto your wraps when you eat.

Now you can start cooking the ingredients that go into your wraps.

1. Make sure your peppers and onions are cut accordingly (as seen in picture below):
   Red Pepper: Diced into small pieces.
   Green pepper: Cut into long slivers.
   Onion: Cut your onion in half, then cut half of it into slivers as seen below and the other half diced into small pieces similar to the red pepper.
   
2. Dice your scallions (as seen below) and set them aside to use shortly.
   
3. Coarsely chop about half of your Cilantro and set it aside to also use soon.
   (Pictures below show you what the cilantro I bought looked like before chopping, how much I ripped off to chop and then the final result after chopping it.)
   
4. Coat your pan with olive oil and add in your green peppers and onion slivers. (Do NOT add the diced onion, only the slivered half.)
5. Add a big pinch each of salt and pepper  and cook on medium-high until onions become somewhat translucent and peppers are softer. Cover while cooking, stirring every minute or so to check. (Before and after cooked pepper and onions pictures below.) Transfer to another container with a cover to keep warm and set these aside when done cooking.
   
6. If you need to coat your pan with any more olive oil add it now. Then put in your ground chicken, your chopped onions and about half of the marinade you made. Stir, cover and cook until chicken is about halfway cooked. If chicken is sticking and pan needs more liquid add a tablespoon or two of water. (This depends on the juices that come from the chicken when it cooks.) Break up the chicken when you stir it every few minutes so it gets mildly minced. (See pic after next step.)
7. Add in your scallions, red peppers, chopped cilantro and the rest of your marinade. Stir everything together very well and cover to finish cooking. Check every minute or so to stir until it is all cooked. (Picture below of what it should look like.)
   
8. When chicken mixture is done set aside in a bowl.
9. Wash your butter lettuce and carefully pull off the larger leaves one by one to use as wraps. Set them in a bowl.
   
10. Place all of your toppings, your peppers and onions, your chicken mixture and the peanut sauce you set aside earlier out so those eating can put together their own wraps. (If you are also using radish slices and chopped peanuts add those to your set up.)
    In picture below from left to right: Scallions, peppers and onions, lettuce, cilantro, peanut sauce, chopped peanuts and finally your main filling your chicken mixture. 
    
11. Put together your own wraps by layering ingredients onto a lettuce leaf and then drizzling some of the peanut-sauce on top.

ENJOY!

INGREDIENT VISUALS