Ginger Walnut Lettuce Cups with Persimmons
If you want a fresh and delicious dinner, try these walnut lettuce cups, topped with a sweet and zesty persimmon salsa. The walnut filling is savory and flavored with sesame oil and ginger. The persimmons are sweet, dressed with lime juice, and mixed with fresh cilantro and scallions. All those flavors are scooped into lettuce cups for some added freshness and crunch. These lettuce wraps are gluten-free and vegan. They’re perfect for party bites, or as a light dinner.
Skip the Post, Click for a Print-Friendly Recipe!
How to Use Walnuts as a Meat Alternative
I recently made some walnut meat tacos, and my sister asked me where I had got the idea, because she vaguely remembered seeing walnut meat in the past. The truth is it’s an old vegetarian technique that has become a little less popular in our age of modern, beyond impossible, meat alternatives. Walnut meat is made by pulsing raw walnuts into a crumbly, ground texture. It’s that texture that makes it a good meat alternative. It’s crumbly, and sticks to itself (which makes it good as a base for meatballs or burgers). It is then flavored with whatever flavors you want to give it a more “meaty” flavor — so things like roasted red peppers, garlic, onion, tomatoes, soy sauce, spices, nutritional yeast, coconut oil, and more. I like to cook my walnut meat in a skillet to meld all the flavors together, but it can be eaten raw if you prefer. Unlike many meat substitutes it is gluten-free and soy free.
Walnut “meat” is all about the texture. It’s great to add to sauces, or flavor as taco meat, added to veggie burgers or meatballs, topped on pizzas or casseroles, rolled into burritos, crumbled on salads, and more. It doesn’t do well in soups, as the crumbles and flavors will likely end up dispersed in the broth and unnoticeable. Once made, walnut meat can be stored in the fridge for a few days or, if you want to make a big batch, frozen for a longer amount of time.
Looking for Persimmon Recipes? Try one of these!
- Vegan Persimmon Dessert – Bruleed Fuyu Persimmons
- Avocado, Persimmon and Beet Tartare
- Vegan Millet Porridge with Persimmon and Chia
- Seared Maitake Mushroom Steaks with Persimmon Salsa
Looking for Walnut Recipes? Try one of these!
- Creamy Walnut and Roasted Grapes Flatbreads
- White Chocolate Maple Walnut Vegan Biscotti
- Walnut and Cinnamon Vegan Coffee Cake
- Blended Cookie Batter Overnight Oats
- Chicken of the Woods Salad with Cranberries
How to Make Walnut Lettuce Cups with Persimmon
These walnut lettuce cups have three components- a simple persimmon salsa, a walnut “meat”, and of course the lettuce cups themselves.
All that is needed for the lettuce cups is to choose the right lettuce, make sure it is washed, and separate the leaves. I used butter lettuce for my cups, which I think is the best choice, but green leaf lettuce will also work. You could also use romaine lettuce, and turn them into larger long portions if you like. Look for leaves that can hold a good portion of walnut meat and is strong enough that it won’t fall apart when holding the filling.
The persimmon salsa is also really easy to make. Make sure you use Fuyu persimmons, and not Hachiya, as Hachiya persimmons are very astringent before they are totally mushy. Peel your somewhat firm fuyu persimmons, and chop them into small pieces. Combine with lime juice, cilantro, scallions, fresh ginger, salt and pepper to the persimmons. You could add a little minced garlic to this as well, or some finely chopped red onions, or even some fresh jalapeño if you want a bit of heat. Mix it all together, and set aside.
Some people think it’s better to soak your walnuts before making walnut meat, but I haven’t found that to be necessary. If you do want to soak your walnuts, do so for about 20 minutes before. Place the onion and garlic in the food processor to break them up well. Add the rest of the ingredients for the walnut “meat” to the food processor and pulse. Process until the walnuts have a ground texture. Make sure you don’t overprocess, or you will end up with an almost peanut butter texture. After that, we’re going to cook the walnut “meat” in a skillet. Add a little oil or water to prevent sticking- usually I am not a fan of using water instead of oil when sautéing, but I think it works fairly well here. Cook for 5-10 minutes to bring all the flavors of the walnut meat together.
After that, lay out your washed lettuce cups. Add a scoop of walnut meat to the lettuce cups, and top with a smaller scoop of the persimmon salsa. Serve, and enjoy!
Ginger Walnut Lettuce Cups with Persimmons
Ingredients
- 3 Fuyu persimmons
- 2 limes
- 2 scallions
- ¼ chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ tsp. fresh ginger
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Lettuce leaves, for serving
- ½ medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups raw walnuts
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- ½ tsp. smoked paprika
- ½ tsp. cumin
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- Thai chili powder, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- To make the persimmon topping, peel and chop the persimmons into small pieces. Chop the scallions and cilantro, and grate or mince the ginger. Add all of that to a mixing bowl, and juice the two limes in as well. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
- Roughly chop the onion into a couple pieces and place it in a food processor, along with the peeled garlic. Pulse several times, until it is roughly chopped. Add the remaining walnut meat ingredients, and pulse until you have a nice crumble texture.
- Add a little cooking oil or a little water to a skillet, and transfer the walnut mixture to the hot pan. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5-10 minutes. Once cooked, scoop tablespoon sized potions onto your lettuce cups, and top with the persimmon salsa.
Click for a Print-Friendly Recipe!
Like these Walnut Lettuce Cups? Pin it!
2 thoughts on “Ginger Walnut Lettuce Cups with Persimmons”