Allergy Friendly Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I was craving Chicken Lettuce wraps but -- I’m also trying to cook more meals that my allergy son can eat too. (The days of being a short order cook are wearing me out). With everything else going on, I’m usually writing the grocery list, while my husband is driving us to the grocery store. I came across water chestnuts in the recipe. My heart skipped a beat. Once your kid(s) get diagnosed with a life threatening food allergy, your thought process changes and you get allergy-mom-induced-anxiety. I started mentally freaking out. What if I didn’t remember his tree nut allergy? OMG I almost cooked a meal with water chestnuts! What are water chestnuts? I know they are yummy and I LOVE THEM and this was the whole reason WHY I was craving lettuce wraps! But, what, are they? Are they a nut or do they just share the name with our nemesis? I didn’t have much time to do research on them. In a quick google search, I found they are an aquatic vegetable with no relationship to tree nuts. Still I didn’t want to chance it, they share the name. There is that PITA allergy-mom-induced-anxiety again. Mini Cucumbers!!! Cucumbers are the next best thing to water chestnuts right? Sorta. They crunch. Would they work in this recipe? Won’t hurt to try. I used the mini cucumbers, so the seeds wouldn’t be an issue. I guess you could always get a regular size cucumber and scoop out the seeds.


I was very happy with the substitution! Would I make this recipe again? Hell yeah! Did my ever-so-picky he-only-eats-5-things child eat it? Yes he did! He even wanted more! MORE!!! He even ate some lettuce! I just about fainted. I even went as far as taking photographic evidence. I’m sure the next time I make it, he’ll turn his nose up at it. That’s what toddlers do right?


I also substituted Coconut aminos for soy sauce. Soy sauce still scares me with him (Classic case of AMIA).


I hope you can understand my recipe. I write, how I cook. Fast and to the point. Mom’s and mom's who work full time, don’t have time for these fancy ass recipes and long winded blog posts. Chop it up and throw it in the pan! Just make sure the meat is cooked! Mom’s don’t have time for food-borne illnesses in any family member.



Allergy Friendly Chicken Lettuce Wraps


Ingredients:

1 lb. ground chicken, turkey or pork

3 mini cucumbers- finely cubed

2 tsp fresh minced ginger

1 clove of minced garlic

2 tbsp of avocado oil

¼ cup of coconut aminos *** Coconuts are a botanical fruit but FDA still classifies them as a tree nut.


Bib Lettuce or Romaine


Over medium heat, in a sauté pan- add avocado oil and chicken. Cook until meat is light brown and cooked through. Add in the cucumbers, ginger, garlic and cook until cucumbers are warm. You still want the cucumbers crunchy, so I don’t cook them very long. Just enough to get the flavors of the ginger and garlic infused. Add in the coconut aminos and stir. Let sit a few minutes then serve with the bib lettuce or Romaine.



Enjoy!


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