Meatless Monday - Lettuce wraps to lighten up your New Year!

Many thanks to the Meatless Monday organization for featuring my Savory Apple Pizza on their site this week!  If you're looking for ideas on how to get started with Meatless Monday's, check them out.  Lots of great recipes and information - and they even have a weekly newsletter chocked full of great information.


The new year is fast approaching!  After a month of eating too many treats and heavier foods, I'm ready to lighten up and get back on track.  Lettuce wraps are a great start! 

Sometimes I have a favorite meal that is so mindlessly easy and simple that I wonder if I should even bother posting it. But I find that sometimes I don't think of these simple recipes or meals on my own, so I'm passing them along to you in case anyone else out there needs an a-ha moment.

Today's meal is one of those crazy simple meals - lettuce wraps. The variations are infinite, so have fun modifying to suit your own particular tastes. I find that these make a fabulous light lunch - kind of a hand-held salad. Here is my current favorite lettuce wrap concoction:

• Place a nice, clean lettuce leaf on a plate. Most any leaf lettuce will do (my picture shows red leaf lettuce), but romaine hearts are especially good.
• Smear a bit of goat cheese (or yogurt or hummus or salsa or whatever suits your mood) lengthwise down the leaf
• Top with roasted vegetables - onion and yellow bell pepper in my case
• Pick up and enjoy!

The yumminess doesn't translate so well in this picture, so just trust me - it's good!

If you've not roasted vegetables before, it couldn't be easier. For my onion and bell pepper, I spread thinly sliced onion and bell pepper in a single layer on a baking sheet. Coat with a little olive oil (you don't need much - just enough to coat), and cook in a preheated oven at 400-425 F for about 20 min. Voila! Roasted vegetables! When I'm on a lettuce wrap kick, I'll roast a ton and keep in the fridge to use throughout the week.