Thursday, January 24, 2013

lettuce wraps

I kinda did a mash up of 2 recipes.  this one and this one...

Ingredients:
1lb ground chicken breast (I used 3 boneless skinless breasts, chopped smallish)
1/2 medium onion, minced
salt & pepper, a dash of each
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 inch nob fresh ginger, peeled & minced ( I used way more than this, I love fresh ginger)
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon natural peanut butter
1/2 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (or more if you like it hotter)--I didn't have this, nor did i want to buy it, so I added a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.
dash of fresh pepper
3 green onions, chopped
1/2-8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained & chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
10-12 large outer lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry
shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, shredded zucchini

Instructions
  • Heat a large, non-stick skillet on high. Add chicken, onion, salt & pepper, and cook until chicken is nearly done, stirring often to break up the meat. Add in minced garlic and ginger, and continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink.
**Here I removed  the chicken and cooked the shredded carrots, cabbage and zucchini
  • Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, combine sesame oil, soy sauce, water, peanut butter, honey, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce and pepper. Microwave for 20 seconds, then stir until smooth. Add into the skillet and stir to combine.  I doubled the sauce because I added veggies
  • Add green onion and water chestnuts (I left these out, me no likey) into the skillet then cook for 1-2 minutes until the onions are soft and the water chestnuts are heated through.
  • Sprinkle with chopped peanuts (I left these out too, my peanut butter was chunky and NOT natural), and serve with cold lettuce leaves
  • I like wraps with fresh veggies too, so I add a thinly sliced cucumbers and carrots to it along with cilantro.
  • I also like to add rice to make it more substatial, and I like to make sauce to dip it in:

Dipping/Drizzling Sauce
4 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs rice vinegar
3 Tbs water
2 tsp honey
1-2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
 To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.

3 comments:

Mary said...

You read my mind. This is literally on the menu for tonight. I like the Mels KC recipe, but I think I have to try this!

jamie k said...

we LOVED these. followed nettie's directions except didn't add zucchini. i added about 1 cup each of carrots and cabbage ... i just chopped it up in my little food processor. could have added a little more even.

i also added thinly sliced red peppers to the wraps (fresh, once you're assembling it all). and the carrots and cilantro. added cucs too, but i let mine sit in rice vinegar while i made the dish b/c cheesecake factory does that with theirs and i love it.

i felt like i was chopping for days, but once everything was ready, the cooking went really fast.

i can't wait to eat these again! like every week.

jamie k said...

oh, i made some quinoa today with the leftovers. It goes really good with this dish. We just ate it on the side, not filled in the wraps. The kids ate it with the chicken mixture mixed in.