Can Costa Rican inspired lettuce wraps be a thing?  I’m not sure.  I see variations in Latin, Asian, and South American and Central American cultures.  But when Ricante offered to send me their delicious hot sauces to try, I got inspired to create these, which became my version of Whole30 chicken lettuce wraps.  I’m still licking my fingers…

When my husband was pastoring young adults, a precious couple we adored asked him to officiate their wedding.  Which meant they invited us along with their closest friends and family to join them for a week in Costa Rica.  I’ll never forget the horseback ride up the mountainside, followed by an afternoon zipline journey over waterfalls and valleys (who knew I loved that type of adrenaline rush?).  The lunch by the pool with the sweetest mother of the bride.  The jaunt just my man and I took alone to sip little drinks with umbrellas sitting in swings at a corrugated metal bar, stopping to eat ceviche between the road and the ocean, watching the fisherman haul in his nets full of the next hour’s offerings.

The first time I tried tamarind (“tamarindo,” as it’s known locally), I was shopping with my daughter to prepare a Filipino feast to wish her well as she prepared to serve families on the other side of the world.  The sweet-tart dried fruit, carefully peeled with the teeth from the hard round pods, captured my palate right away.  That flavor will be attached to the bittersweet memory of that meal maybe always, and I’ll think of the family I do not know around the continent, made mine by the love of my girl.  The sauce used in this recipe is made with tamarind and sweetened with raisins, it captures the sweet-tart essence I remember.  It adds just the perfect sour and spicy note to the warm meat and vegetables, the crunchy slaw, and the sweet cashews.

Isn’t it amazing how foods immediately transport us to a place?  I just finished reading Hannah Coulter, by Wendell Berry.

Side note: did you know you can grow to love someone more deeply by reading something they love?  My daughter-in-law told me this was a favorite book, currently speaking to her heart and mind.  So I read it, and the whole time I felt like I was knowing her better, loving her better.

Anyway, Hannah Coulter, while it doesn’t-so-much focus on food, brings you right to a place where someone has lived and worked and loved by placing you in her environment, in her home, among her people and on her land.  I never get over how food does the same thing; it tells us about the place it came from and the people who cultivated and cooked it, if we’re paying attention.

I feel like when I read about the Ricante company, I got to know the makers a little bit, and I’d like to visit them and sit long over a bright summery meal and learn to love their land more, too.  This Tamarindo sauce is named after “the sleepy beach town of yesteryear and a radical place to enjoy a cold beer and some epic waves.”  You can picture it, can’t you?

Another side note: here’s a tip for really loving heating healthy food!

Maybe my favorite Whole30 | Clean-eating tip:

It’s all about the sauce!  The French knew it well (ohhhh have you watched the sauce scene in The Hundred-Foot Journey?).  Some parents watch their kids slather everything with ketchup (my dear father-in-law is known for his habit 😉  ), but I say we can elevate things a bit.  Master some amazing sauces and play with spice combinations and you can make anything – even, dare I say it – ground chicken – taste delicious.  And if you wrap it in little lettuce cups and let people sprinkle things and drizzle said sauce all over it, your kids will even think it is a messy, delicious adventure.  Let your kids play with flavors in the kitchen and you’ll create wonderful memories and maybe, too, wonderful habits!  Sauces and spice experimentation are how we’ve had our best times on our Whole30 journey and any time we’ve most nourished our bodies.  You’re welcome.

And this sauce?  It’s the magic.

Whether you’re wanting to eat squeaky-clean, heal some issues in your body, or just know that ingredients are good-for-you, Whole30 has come to be synonymous with “healthy food.”  It’s why I often look for “Whole30 and” and an ingredient when I’m creating a recipe.  While some of the moral and political issues of our day break my heart in how I see those apart from Christ believing and acting, I so appreciate a grounded approach in the area of nourishing these incredible bodies God gifted us with.  I’m convinced as we care well for our bodies, we’re honoring the One who made them, even when we don’t realize it.  Once we connect the spiritual Truth with the physical understanding, we’re onto something amazing!

And finally, the Costa Rican inspired Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe.  🙂

5 from 1 vote

Print

Costa Rican Inspired Chicken Lettuce Wraps {Paleo | Whole30 Option}

Author: Angela Sackett | Everyday Welcome

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil divided
• 1 pound ground chicken
• ½ finely chopped red bell pepper
• ½ finely chopped green bell pepper
• 1 finely chopped sweet onion
• 1 large clove garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
• 2 tablespoons honey substitute preferred sweetener or omit for Whole30
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon Ricante Tamarindo hot sauce or pinch red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup chopped cashews
• 1 cup cabbage & carrot slaw blend
• 12 bibb lettuce leaves

For sauce:

• ¼ cup mayonnaise*
• ¼ cup Ricante Tamarindo or other sweet-spicy hot sauce
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno seeds and membrane removed, finely minced

Directions

1. First, make dipping sauce by stirring together mayonnaise, hot sauce, lime juice and zest, and jalapeno until ingredients are combined and creamy. Set aside in a small serving dish.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
3. Add chicken and cook, breaking up meat, until cooked through and starting to caramelize (about 5 minutes).
4. Remove chicken and set aside in a covered container.
5. Add remaining 1 tablespoon coconut oil to the hot skillet.
6. Add bell peppers, onion, garlic and ginger to skillet; cook about 2 minutes or until onion is translucent.
7. Whisk sesame oil, vinegar, coconut aminos, honey, fish sauce, and hot sauce or red pepper flakes in small bowl; carefully pour mixture into skillet with vegetables.
8. Return chicken to skillet and stir about 5 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened.
9. To serve: Spoon 1/4 cup turkey mixture onto each lettuce leaf. Top with cashews, slaw, and dipping sauce.

Recipe Notes

*For Whole30 or other food needs, be sure to check all ingredients for compatibility.

A few tips for Whole30 Chicken Lettuce Wraps:

• Make sure to check ingredients for your sauces and mayo.  If you’re doing Whole30, make sure the list is all compatible with the official rules.
• Not a fan of chicken?  Use grass-fed ground beef, venison (my favorite!), or ground turkey!
• Like it spicier?  And an extra pinch of red pepper flakes to your sauce or your meat mixture.
• Want more of an Asian twist?  Try almond slices and sesame seeds on top, and sprinkle with green onion.

Who will you invite to share your meal?

Inspiring (crunchy, creamy, spicy and tart) welcome,

Angela