Chipotle Black Bean Lettuce Wraps

   

As much as we love cooking together as a couple, we’re at our happiest cooking with or for other people. There’s something about chatting away while chopping veggies that just feels right. The past few years, we’ve involved friends in our cooking process for A Couple Cooks, inviting them over to cook, taste test, hang out while we shoot (and if they’re lucky, hand-model), and finally, eat — though it’s usually cold by that time! Adding community to our cooking process and sharing it with others makes it many times more enjoyable.

Our friend Russell has participated in a few cooking and shooting sessions with us (here’s his hand), and he claims he’s our “biggest fan” — though we’d argue it’s the reverse. He’s an engineer, a runner, and a passionate cook who’s always whipping up something new, always healthy and many times vegetarian. We joked a while back about him contributing a recipe to our blog, and several weeks later, he cooked it with us in our kitchen. This guy delivers.

These are Russell’s lettuce wraps, and it would be no exaggeration to say these are one of the best lettuce wraps I’ve tried. The combination of guacamole, spicy chipotle black beans, and mango salsa is an explosion of flavor and textures. For a lettuce wrap, they’re surprisingly filling, and you can’t beat the health factor: full of nutrients and accommodating for many diets (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy free). While it did take a bit of time in the kitchen to put together all the components, it was time well spent. It’s a great option for a dinner with friends, or just a night