Mexican Lettuce Wraps

Busy moms and dads everywhere, REJOICE! I've got a brand new recipe that will leave you happy, satisfied and content.

For the past few weeks, we've been using a weekly planner to plan out our meals. It took us a while to get to the point of using it regularly and intentionally, but we do now and that's what matters. On Saturdays, we sit down with the planner and decide what's for dinner each day the next week. Once we've chosen our menu, we write up the grocery list and shop accordingly. It's a great way to plan ahead if you are willing to commit the time to pre-plan! For the six weeks or so we've menu planned, it's helped make our evenings so much easier and eliminated the dreaded question: "What's for dinner tonight?"

This week, Tuesday was Mexican night. Amar was planning to make his Mexican beans and rice. Around 4:30 p.m., I asked Amar to start getting dinner ready. I was in the mood for tortillas with our dinner, and we didn't have any at home, so I planned to make flour tortillas from scratch using a recipe I had made before.

Aadil wasn't having it, though! He said he was hungry, but when I placed a plate of food in front of him, he didn't want it. He insisted on sitting in my lap where he continued to refuse the food. Call it the terrible twos; or simply toddlerhood; but he was in a mood. Meanwhile, Amar started cooking. He chopped tomatoes, jalapenos and red onions. He started cooking the beans and was using leftover cooked rice from yesterday. I continued to look for something that would make Aadil happy!

Eventually, Amar placed some beans he just made in front of Aadil and he started to eat them. By this time, the rice and bean mixture was done, and I hadn't even started on the tortillas. Amar said: I'm going to put the mixture in lettuce and make lettuce wraps instead. Voila! This delicious meal was born. He loaded the bean and rice mixture into a green lettuce leaf. He added a sprinkle of Mexican cheese, salsa, taco sauce and sour cream, and then rolled the whole thing up. While I continued to sit with Aadil in my lap, Amar put a wrap in front of me. I took a bite and was instantly wowed by the flavors. The crisp lettuce was the perfect compliment to Amar's signature bean and rice mixture. You are lucky you are getting that with this recipe, too! I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it earlier. A new recipe was born and we had a fabulous meal. I hope these Mexican Lettuce Wraps become a part of your family's weeknight memories, too!

Mexican Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients for the bean and rice mixture:

• One can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

• One diced roma tomato

• One diced red onion

• Two diced jalapenos

• Cumin seeds

• One tbsp. Garlic powder

• One tbsp. Onion powder

• One tsp. Red chili flakes

• Pinch Chili powder

For the toppings:

1. Shredded Mexican cheese

2. Salsa

3. Taco sauce

4. Sour cream

Directions:

1. Add oil to the pot. Allow oil to get hot, then add cumin seeds. Once cumin seeds start to pop, add diced red onion and jalapeno. Sautee.

2. After onions are cooked a bit, add tomato. Sautee.

3. Add in rinsed and drained red kidney beans. Add in garlic powder, onion powder, red chili flakes and chili powder. Mix well.

4. Add in cooked rice. Combine all ingredients well. Taste and add in additional spices if necessary.

5. Put a couple tablespoons of the bean and rice mixture into the center of a large piece of lettuce. Top with shredded Mexican cheese, salsa, taco sauce and a dollop of sour cream. Roll into a wrap, and enjoy!