A "Pinterest"-ing Life: Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps

I am absolutely in LOVE with Asian foods: Thai food, Chinese food, Japanese food (Sushi, anyone?!), Korean food, Vietnamese food....you get the picture!  My stomach is just growling thinking about all the amazing different types of amazing Asian-style and Asian-inspired foods! I recently went on a Food Network kick and discovered Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman! Most of her recipes are delicious, even if they do contain some ingredients I'm not so thrilled about (Whipping cream, anyone?!).  BUT her recipes are wholesome, good ole' fashioned, down-home, delicious meals!  One of my favorite parts is that her recipes are simple, require few (if any) complicated ingredients, and taste amazing!

Recently, I have been struggling to find a delicious, inexpensive, gluten-free meal/recipe that I could make. I was actually browsing pinterest, while watching the Pioneer Woman on The Food Network.  I watched her make an amazing, simple meal of Asian Lettuce Wraps.  I was unable to write down the recipe fast enough, but I found what I believed was a VERY similar recipe on the  Food Network, by Sunny Anderson.  Fortunately for me, this recipe contains ingredients that I generally keep in stock in my pantry!  The only thing I had to purchase was the hoisin sauce (YAY for budget friendly!).

Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-
anderson/asian-lettuce-wraps-recipe.html

The wraps ARE a bit spicy, but they are delicious! The coolness of the lettuce also helps to counteract the spiciness of the meat.  I will warn you: if you are gluten-intolerant, like I am, you may need to browse the Asian section (or sometimes the "gourmet" section) of your grocery store fairly carefully to find gluten-free soy sauce or gluten-free hoisin sauce.

Josh and I finished off the entire pan of meat in one sitting the first time we made this!  The other few times we made it, we saved some for lunch/dinner leftovers the next day.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 pound ground beef
2-inch piece ginger (we used ground)
2 cloves garlic,
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 head Boston lettuce, leaves separated, cleaned and dried (we sometimes use Romaine Lettuce)

Directions:
1. In skillet over medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil and saute beef until brown.
2. Stir in ginger, garlic, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and hoisin sauce.  Cook for 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat and stir in peanuts.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve warm, wrapped in lettuce!

Want a vegetarian option?? Check out the Pioneer Woman's vegetarian recipe with tofu HERE!