A variation on Asian lettuce wraps

These aren’t the P. F. Chang’s-style asian chicken lettuce wraps, with ground chicken, sesame oil, hoisin sauce and soy sauce (though, those are delicious). Instead, this recipe offers a creamy, crunchy variation on a BLT sandwich. This BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado) in easy chicken lettuce-wrap form is perfect for an easy dinner or a summer party appetizer, since it is served at room temperature. The mayo-hummus spread adds creamy texture, as well as holding everything together.

Let’s talk about butter lettuce

Butter lettuce works perfectly for this because butter lettuce leaves are thick and luscious (one might even call them buttery), as well as being the perfect size for a hand-held treat. However, if butter lettuce (or bibb lettuce or Boston lettuce, which are nearly indistinguishable from butter lettuce) isn’t available, a romaine or iceberg lettuce leaf is a good substitute. For a nutrition boost, this could even be served on tender cabbage leaves from the inner layers of a head of cabbage.

Variations on BLTA chicken lettuce wraps

This is a very adaptable recipe - ground chicken, ground turkey or ground beef, any of which you can brown in olive oil in a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat, works well to replace the diced chicken. For an easy variation on the filling, you can add diced bell peppers, red pepper flakes or chopped cucumbers.

But wait, I want to eat P. F. Chang’s lettuce wraps!

Fair enough - try this highly yummed P. F. Chang’s-style copycat recipe that incorporates hoisin sauce, soy sauce, water chestnuts, green onions, and rice wine vinegar into the chicken mixture for Chinese flavors.

Baking bacon

This recipe includes a couple adaptable cooking hacks: The first is baking bacon. Eliminate splatter and the need to stand over a hot stove by cooking strips of bacon in the oven on 375º F for 20 minutes. Set a timer and forget it until your bacon’s ready. Bake the bacon on a wire rack for extra-crispy strips

Hummus/mayo spread

The other kitchen hack found in this recipe is the hummus-mayo mix: It’s a great way to add lots of creamy texture to a lettuce wrap (or a lavash wrap, tortilla wrap, or sandwich!) in a healthy, lower-fat way. The extra fiber and protein in the hummus are just a bonus, this spread is delicious.

How to serve lettuce wraps, and what to serve them with

These wraps are great for a party - wash and dry the lettuce leaves as much as two days in advance and make the filling in bulk (it’s easy to double or triple the amounts). Before serving, lay the lettuce leaves out on your serving tray and assemble them in place. If you’re serving these as a main dish for dinner, you can put the filling and the creamy hummus out in small bowls on the table with a pile of lettuce leaves, and let people assemble their own. Anything that you’d serve with a BLT sandwich is a great side dish to serve with these: potato salad, coleslaw (which allows you to keep it low-carb), fruit salad, sweet potato fries or, yes, bread.