Here we toss rice noodles with crunchy vegetables, fresh herbs, tofu and a light, sweet, tart and salty Vietnamese dressing flavored with fish sauce and wrap the mixture in lettuce leaves. For a vegetarian version, use reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari in place of the fish sauce. Pass the mixture, lettuce leaves and sauce separately so everyone can make their own wraps.

From EatingWell:  March/April 2009

4 servings, 2 wraps each | Active Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 ounces thin rice noodles, or rice sticks (see Note)
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 teaspoons fish sauce, (see Note)
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 8 ounces firm or extra-firm seasoned tofu, thinly sliced
• 1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1 cup snow peas, trimmed and very thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 8 large leaves green-leaf lettuce

Preparation

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add rice noodles (or rice sticks) and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Gently squeeze noodles to remove most of the water.
2. Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup water, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and crushed red pepper to taste in a small bowl.
3. Coarsely chop the noodles and combine in a large bowl with tofu, carrot, snow peas, basil and mint. Pour the sauce over the salad and toss to combine. To serve, spoon about 1/2 cup salad onto each lettuce leaf and roll up.

Tips & Notes

• Ingredient notes: Dried thin rice noodles (or rice sticks) are also called “bun” or “vermicelli-style” rice noodles. Look for them in the Asian section of well-stocked super markets or an Asian-foods market.
• Fish sauce is a pungent Southeast Asian condiment made from salted, fermented fish. Find it in the Asian section of large supermarkets and in Asian specialty markets.

Nutrition Profile

Diabetes appropriate | Low calorie | Low cholesterol | Low saturated fat | Heart healthy | Healthy weight | High calcium | Gluten free | View Complete Nutrition Guidelines»

Nutrition
Per serving:

197 calories; 6 g fat (1 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 23 g carbohydrates; 14 g protein; 2 g fiber; 747 mg sodium; 147 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (70% daily value), Vitamin C (20% dv), Calcium & Iron (15% dv).

1 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 medium-fat meat

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