There’s nothing like a lettuce wrap to bring you into spring. The perfect balance of hot and cool, these lettuce wraps make you feel light and satiated at the same time.You can serve these as a starter, or, when paired with brown rice and salsa, as a main dish.

Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a main course.

What you’ll need:

2 tablespoons olive oil

Two 8-ounceboneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch dice

8 lettuce leaves (preferably green leaf lettuce)

Soy Joy sauce (recipe below)

1 avocado, diced

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Put the chicken in the pan and cook, stirring, until the chicken is lightly browned. When the chicken is almost cooked through (at about 4 minutes) drizzle with Soy Joy sauce. Allow chicken to caramelize with Soy Joy sauce for 2 more minutes then remove from heat.

To serve, top each lettuce leaf with some chicken, a drizzle of Soy Joy sauce and avocado. Fold the lettuce around the filling and serve immediately. Feel free to add cilantro, cucumber, and to spice it up, some delicious Asian chili sauce.

Soy Joy Sauce is the sauce of all sauces. In addition to a flavor booster for the lettuce wraps, Soy Joy can be used for a marinade for meat, fish, poultry and vegetables as well as seasoning for any stir-fry.

Makes 1 and 1/2 cups

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2-cup fresh cilantro

1/2-teaspoon chile flakes

Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, ginger, garlic, cilantro, and chile flakes in a food processor or blender. Add 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water and puree until smooth.

The sauce can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to one week.