Asian Turkey Meatballs in Lettuce Cups

My husband is in love with this diet - not just because he's lost a couple of pounds, but because most of these recipes have a sauce of some kind, and he L-O-V-E-S sauce. Can he dip it? Spoon it on top? Bathe in it? Sure! Have some! He used to pick on me for accidentally buying some sauce (fish or soy, usually) when we already had some, but now I think he'll back off, knowing that the more bottles of something I have, the more sauce I can make him! :)

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but this was yet another wonderfully easy-to-prepare, and flavorful dinner. Again. We personally dig the lettuce cups/wraps, because we get the involvement of putting it all together AND we can pretend we're having tacos. Woo!

Right, back to the point. These were good! I think I added too much juicy stuff to the meat, because the balls were a little squishy to start, but they browned up nicely. I will re-mention the tasty sauce, because, well, it was tasty! I highly suggest using lettuce that's friendly and pliable and not iceberg. I recently made the switch to Boston, and its dreamy. I've decided, to continue on the taco theme here, that iceberg is like crunchy tacos and Boston is like soft. So.. if you have your own preference, use it!

O, I also skipped the mint leaves. I knew I'd purchased them, but they were jammed in the way back of the crisper and couldn't find them... So I assumed I'd forgotten them... even though I was pretty sure they were in there... anyway... Yah. Now I'll have to find something to use the mint leaves on.

Asian Turkey Meatballs in Lettuce Cups
From: The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook

Dressing:
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Pinch red pepper flakes

Meatballs:
1 pound ground turkey breast
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
12 large Boston lettuce leaves
1 small cucumber, cut into matchsticks
1 cup mint leaves

For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together fish sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and pepper flakes; set aside at room temperature.

For the meatballs: In a large bowl, stir together turkey, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, vinegar, and soy sauce. Form mixture into 24 (2 inch) meatballs.

Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium-high. Add meatballs in two batches and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes for each batch.

Lay 3 lettuce leaves on each of 4 plates. Place 2 meatballs on top of each leaf. Top meatballs with cucumber and mint leaves, drizzle with dressing, and serve.

Makes 4 (6 meatball) servings.

Per serving: 180 cals, 6 g fat, 0.5 sat fat, 30 g protein, 4 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 480 mg sodium