Thanksgiving Leftovers: Turkey, Apple, Avocado and Walnut Lettuce Wraps with Fresh Cranberry Sauce

 One of the best things about Thanksgiving food is all the leftovers! We always have a ton of food left over after Thanksgiving and I love experimenting and coming up with new and fresh ways to use it. This is one of my favorites! This salad is so refreshing and is a perfect way to use leftover turkey for a delicious and healthy lunch. I whipped up a fresh cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and it was amazing. It was the perfect blend between tart and sweet and I absolutely loved it, so I’m including my recipe below.

 Thanksgiving Leftovers: Lettuce Wraps Recipe

 about 6 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked turkey, chopped (about 1.5 lbs and you can also use chicken)

1 apple, diced

1 avocado, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

½ red onion, chopped

½ cup walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup homemade or all natural mayonnaise

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper

romaine lettuce leaves for the wraps

fresh cranberry sauce (see recipe below)

 DIRECTIONS:

Gently mix all the ingredients, minus the romaine lettuce leaves, together in a medium bowl. Put a scoopful of turkey salad mixture on top of the romaine lettuce. Add a dollop of cranberry sauce. Roll the romaine lettuce up like a wrap. Secure with a toothpick. Enjoy!

 Fresh Cranberry Sauce:

12 oz fresh cranberries

2 clementines, cut into small pieces

1 apple, diced

¼ cup water

¼ cup pure maple syrup

1/8 tsp ground cloves or ground cardamom

 In a skillet over medium heat, mix in water, cranberries, clementines, and apples. Cook stirring often until cranberries start to split open. Pour in maple syrup and ground cloves. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Chill and serve. If you prefer a smoother cranberry sauce, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Enjoy!

**UPDATE**: One of my readers wrote in on facebook and said she’s been enjoying this fresh cranberry recipe a lot, too and she said it’s “SUPERFABULOUS” even without the added sweetener of maple syrup! I tried it and she is right. Even better! I have also been switching back and forth from adding cloves to cardamom. I’m still not sure which one I like better (they both are so good!) so I think I’ll keep switching back and forth 🙂