Tofu Lettuce Wraps with Thai Peanut Sauce

     Last weekend I went with my husband and friends to an almost secluded beach at the north end of our island. It is such a relaxing and rejuvenating place to go. The day before I was going back and forth trying to decide what to bring and what not to bring. I wanted to do a barbeque beach picnic but it was seeming like a lot to put together. A few days earlier I joined a few friends for a mid-week beach sunset/potluck and one of the friends brought some very delicious vegetable kabob's. I hadn't had a kabob in a while and they were so delicious! This had me wanting to make them for our Saturday beach trip. Thankfully my husband said bring it all. We did used it all...the pop up tarp, beach chairs, grill...and ate it all! It was such a fantastic trip that we are going to do it again this coming weekend! Sometimes we all just need a little nudging to go that extra step. Putting most of the things in the car the night before really made it easy in the morning. In the morning I just put the prepared food and drinks in the ice chest and took off. In the end it really wasn't that much work and I am really happy we had all the luxuries to enjoy.

     This prompted me to explore a few other grilling or picnic ideas for other trips. I will make a separate post for the vegetable kabobs. Below are two marinade recipes, one for Citrus-Lime-Cilantro Tofu that I brought to the beach and a simple marinade I used today for the lettuce wraps.

     Today I intended to grill the tofu but it never made it on the grill. Instead I ended up cooking it in the oven and using it for these lettuce wraps. I really enjoyed these and can equally use the tofu for grilling if desired. I will show you below how I press the tofu. Once the water is pressed out of the tofu it is firm enough for putting on skewers or cutting in thick slabs to put on the grill.

    To make the lettuce wraps, first prepare the tofu. You can certainly do this step in advance and even the night before if you are making these for an outing. Take desired amount of tofu and slice into even thickness's. Here I have used a 14 oz. package of firm tofu which serves about 5. If I were making slabs then I would have cut these into 5 slices. Use firm or extra firm tofu. I laid a kitchen towel on top of a cutting board then placed the slices on top of the towel.

Fold the towel to cover the tofu.

Lay a second cutting board or baking sheet on top 

of the tofu. Use several cans or other item to weight

down on top of the tofu. Allow this to sit for about

30 minutes and press out the excess water. 

While the tofu was pressing I made the marinate, prepared the 

vegetables and Thai Peanut Sauce (instructions below)

Remove the top cutting board and towel. For the lettuce wraps

I cut each slab in half and then half again, creating 16 pieces.

For grilling, prepare a marinade, then place the tofu in a Ziplock

bag along with the marinade. Allow to marinade for a few hours

or over night. Turn the bag a few times so the marinate evenly

distributes. The size pieces I have here would work well on

skewers for grilling. For the wraps, I placed them on a baking sheet

and cooked for about 20 minutes at 375°F. Half way through cooking

turn the pieces over. Allow them to cool before using them in the wraps.

Oven cooked marinated tofu.

Marinate Recipe #1 (used for the lettuce wraps)

3 T. Bragg's Liquid Amino's*
2 T. lime juice
2 T. Coconut Sugar* (or 1 T. brown sugar)
1/4 t. sesame oil

*I chose Bragg's Liquid Amino's because it is gluten free and a low sodium alternative to soy sauce. You can use soy sauce if desired.

*coconut sugar is low glycemic and diabetic friendly. It is not as sweet as cane sugar to me so I used  more to get the desired sweetness. It is only 15 calories per tablespoon where as brown sugar is about 50 calories per tablespoon. You certainly can try other sweetener's with  this marinade.

Marinate #2 (Citrus-Lime-Cilantro)

1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
2 t. chili powder
pinch of red chili flakes (optional)
dash of salt & pepper

This marinate is very versatile. You can grill the tofu, simmer it in a saucepan with the marinate or place in foil pouches along with bell pepper, onion and pineapple chunks to cook on the grill.

To make the Lettuce Wraps:

Sauté about 1/2 cup sliced onion on medium-low heat for about

5 minutes. When the onions begin to soften add about 1 cup on

matchstick cut bell peppers and carrots.  

You want the bell pepper and carrots to just barely soften and 

keep a lot of crispness so only cook them for a minute or two. 

At the end of cooking add about 1/2 cup sliced cabbage.

 Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl.

     Use large leaves of washed lettuce for your wrap (you may even want to make a double layer of lettuce leaves). Here I am using some leftover short grain brown rice. I placed the cooked vegetables on top of the rice, then a piece of tofu, drizzle on some Thai Peanut Sauce (click for recipe) and chopped fresh mint. Fresh mung bean sprouts would also be a nice addition.

Enjoy your wraps and some time outdoors!!