A recipe for Slow Cooker Lentil Quinoa Lettuce Cups, the monthly Recipe Challenge link up, and another Meal Plan Monday!
Somehow I always forget about using my slow cooker in the summertime. I love it for winter soups and hearty meals for cold weather, but I always seem to forget about it as soon as it gets hot outside. (Maybe I’m too distracted by my grill.) It’s kind of silly really, because the slow cooker is perfect for summer days when you don’t want to heat up your house with the oven! Because we wanted an excuse to bust out the slow cookers, this month, A Savory Feast, Bowl of Happiness and I teamed up to bring you some Summer Crock-Pot recipes as part of our monthly recipe challenge.
We tend to go through a ton of tortillas in our house. (Have you noticed yet?) I firmly believe that everything can pretty much be turned into a taco, so we pull them out whenever we can. So in breaking out of my forgetting the slow cooker rut, I also wanted to break out of the tortilla taco rut too and pick a lighter, healthier option. Enter these lettuce cups. I’m probably not fooling anyone into thinking I didn’t just make some tacos, but at least I tried packing in the veggies right?
These were really great for a summer recipe because I threw them in my smaller slow cooker, went out to run my errands for the day, and came home to a ready-made lunch. You can also throw them in at lunch time and have them ready come dinner. (Tell me I’m not the only one who plans a slow cooker meal for the day and then forgets to make it until 2pm? You mean you didn’t want dinner at midnight?)
I’m also in love with the guacamole sour cream sauce. I had some leftover guacamole in my fridge (no, I don’t know how we managed to have it leftover either) and just thought, maybe I could mix these? That, my friends, was an excellent idea. I may have squirted the rest of it straight into my mouth. You need guacamole sour cream sauce in your life even if you don’t have some lentil quinoa tacos lettuce wraps to squirt it on.
You know you want one.
One for you.
Two for me!
Slow Cooker Lentil Quinoa Lettuce Cups
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 cup beluga or brown lentils
- 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup shiitake or button mushrooms, diced
- 4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup taco seasoning (store bought or I used this recipe)
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
For Serving
- 1 head butter lettuce (often found as a living head in a plastic clamshell box near the iceberg lettuce)
- 1 cup broccoli coleslaw mix (a pre-packaged blend of shredded broccoli, cabbage, and carrots found with the bagged salad)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup guacamole (or some plain avocado + a dash of salt and garlic powder)
- shredded cheese
Instructions
- Combine all the filling ingredients in a small slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low until the lentils and quinoa are soft and ready to eat, about 3 hours.
- Mix the guacamole and sour cream together in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Assemble lettuce cups with some filling mixture, broccoli coleslaw mix, and shredded cheese.
- Pour the sour cream guacamole sauce into a small zip top bag and cut off a small corner.
- Squirt over the top of your tacos in the desired amount.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Serving Alternatives: Can be served as nachos, in taco shells, or in burritos.
- Gluten-free: This is gluten-free, but check your spice mix.
- Vegetarian: Use vegetable broth.
- Vegan: Use vegetable broth. Leave out the cheese and sour cream, and check your spice mix.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
Meal Plan Monday 7/27-8/2:
Click Here for the (Now Mobile-Friendly) Weekly Shopping List Printable!
This meal plan is designed to feed approximately 4 adults at each meal or two adults with lunches left over. Feel free to double or add to it as needed. **You’ll need to open it with the free Adobe Reader App (Android or iOS) to be able to use the check boxes on mobile, so install that first if you don’t have it already.**
Monday: Breakfast for Dinner! Baked Denver Omelet from Cooking Classy (gluten-free, vegetarian option)
Tuesday: These Slow Cooker Lentil Quinoa Lettuce Cups (gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan option)
Wednesday: Rustic Herbed Skillet Chicken and Vegetables from Plating Pixels (Gluten-free if using Lea & Perrins gf Worcestershire sauce)
Thursday: Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Kabobs from Taste and Tell (gluten-free)
Friday: Pizza Night! Thin Crust Pizza Dough from Almost Casual with your fave pizza toppings (not gluten-free – swap in your favorite gf crust mix instead)
Saturday: Date Night – Eat Out.
Sunday: Y.O.Y.O. (You’re on your own.)
Linked up with:
Leave a Reply