Thai Red Curry Pork and Quinoa Lettuce Cupswith green smoothie
Our community members loved the fresh feel and super fast preparation when we last featured a version of these lettuce cups in 2017.
Ingredients
- Quinoa, uncooked - 3/4 cup
- Stock, any type - 1 1/2 cups
- Ginger - 1 tsp, grated
- Red curry paste - 1 Tbsp (sub green or yellow curry paste)
- Soy sauce, low-sodium - 2 Tbsp
- Water - 2 Tbsp
- Brown sugar - 2 tsp
- Lettuce, Bibb or Boston leaf - 12 leaves (sub romaine or iceberg)
- Mint - 6 leaves, thinly sliced
- Limes - 1/2, wedges
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Pork, ground - 1 lb
- Peanuts - 1/4 cup
- Hot sauce of choice (opt) - for serving
- Ginger - 1 tsp, grated
- Mango, frozen cubes - 12 oz
- Baby spinach - 3 oz
- Lime juice - 1/2 tsp
- Water - 3/4 cup
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Quinoa - (Skip if made ahead for Tuesday.) Combine quinoa with stock in a saucepan. Add some salt. Bring to a boil covered. Lower heat, keep covered, and cook until liquid is absorbed, 8 to 10 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Ginger (for lettuce cups and smoothie) - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make sauce - Combine ginger (portion for lettuce cups), curry paste, soy sauce, water (portion for lettuce cups), and brown sugar. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Lettuce / Mint / Limes - Prep as directed.
- Make smoothie - Combine ginger (portion for smoothie), mango, spinach, lime juice, and water (portion for smoothie) in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding a bit more water if needed.
Make
- Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and then pork. Saute pork to get it started cooking (but not cooked through), ~4 minutes. Drain excess grease out of the pan.
- Pour sauce over pork and bring to a simmer. Simmer until sauce has reduced slightly and pork is finished cooking, ~2 minutes more.
- Remove pan from heat and stir in quinoa. Taste and season with some salt, if needed.
- Set out lettuce cup ingredients - pork, lettuce leaves, mint, lime wedges, peanuts, and hot sauce.
- Fill lettuce cups at the table. Enjoy with smoothie on the side.
Reviews
This meal has 29 reviews
We love lettuce cups
Easy and very good
Good quick weeknight dish! One had it on top of rice, one wrapped in tortilla/pita, one ate as is. Everyone liked the mint! . Use butterhead lettuce yum. Did not do smoothie, will need to try that & need to try veggie version!
Made with ground chicken in lieu of pork ( we don’t eat beef or pork). Was delicious. My 2,4, and 6 yo all ate it. I gave the littles the option of a tortilla or lettuce cup. Worked well! And the smoothie was a perfect compliment! Will defiantly I add to the regular rotation!
SO GOOD.
This was a really delicious quick meal! I loved the flavor and I’ll definitely make these again.