7/24/09

Cooking 101 - Asian Chicken Peanut Lettuce Wraps

Everybody needs at least one Asian dish in their arsenal and this one is NO FAIL! My sister-in-law (the adorable Kristine) came over the night I made these and she woofed it down without taking a breath! Atta girl, Kristine - that's what this family is all about.

AND....can I just tell you the best part about this recipe?! It's SO loaded with veggies and my kids had no idea! AWESOME! It's got a little spicy kick to it, so don't be alarmed - but if your kiddies aren't used to spicy food, they might not touch this. My kids did fine, but you never know.

So...once again this is a recipe I tweaked so I'm going completely by memory. Either way - it's kind of hard to mess this up!

ASIAN CHICKEN PEANUT LETTUCE WRAPS
(If you're feeding more than 4 adults, you might want to double the recipe)

4 frozen chicken breasts
1 large carrot
8 whole mushrooms
3 green onions
1 red bell pepper
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 T. oil
1 -2 tsp. sesame seed oil (no substitutions!)
1 head butter lettuce, leaves washed and separated
cooked rice

For sauce: (I got all of this stuff at Wal-Mart, girls - not hard)
1/2 bottle Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce
1/3 c. Asian Toasted Sesame dressing
3-4 dashes soy sauce
1 tsp. dried ginger (or 1/4 tsp. fresh minced ginger)
1 T. rice vinegar
handful of (shelled) sunflower seeds (optional)


Bring chicken breasts to a boil in water with a pinch of salt; cover. Boil for 10 minutes; remove from water and chop finely into pieces about the size of peas.

Meanwhile, finely dice the onion, mushroom, and bell pepper to the same size as the chicken pieces. (My kids DON'T eat mushrooms and they had NO idea this dish had any mushrooms at all!)

Finely grate the carrot; set aside in a separate bowl.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add onions, mushrooms, pepper. Cook 2 minutes to soften. Add chicken and minced garlic. Saute for a couple more minutes. Then add all of the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until liquid is reduced and there is almost no liquid left in the pan and the chicken is cooked through. Stir in grated carrot and if you like nuts, I sprinkled sunflower seeds in mine and it was SO good!

**Note: If your mixture is missing something or doesn't taste quite right, you can always add one of two things: a little bit of butter helps neutralize foods, or a small pinch of brown sugar helps neutralize some of the sour ingredients in this recipe.

Serve with a plate of lettuce leaves and your cooked rice - or get creative and cook up some Asian noodles. I used green-leaf lettuce and they weren't strong enough - you'd have to double up on those or use a firmer lettuce leaf.

12 comments:

Kristine said...

I can't believe you got this up before going. You are such an amazing person. I know firsthand how scrumptious these are. I got to try them that night. You are such a great cook. I'm super proud to be your sis-in-law.

Kristine said...

Ok so I wrote all those nice things about you before I saw what you posted. It made me laugh out loud. I never knew the definition of the term wolfing down until you described it to me. You just forgot to add that those wraps never had a chance I didn't even mess with a fork. That's what fingers are for right!!!!!!

Kate said...

oh I am so making this next week! And all the ingredients are everything I have! (something that rarely happens ) :)
I love your blog...I can't believe how many great ideas I have gotten from it! thanks!

Yarni Gras! said...

oh this looks AMAZING! We love Chang's lettuce wraps so these should be a hit!

Jeanne Oliver said...

I always order these when we go out...I will have to try your recipe. Thanks!

Steph @ somewhatsimple said...

This is one of my favorite meals! My kids love it too! There is another brand of peanut sauce I found that isnt as spicy, but they only sell it at our Kroger store here.

Also, I tried making my own Monogram- and yours is so much cuter!!!! I mentioned you on my blog so people can see how cute the monograms are supposed to be, as opposed to what mine looks like!

Thanks for sharing your ideas!
-Stephanie
somewhatsimple.blogspot.com

Jennifer said...

You are a doll!! I've had your blog in my reader for a while, but haven't browsed the posts. You are talented and energetic. How nice of you to share great recipes and projects. Truly an inspiration. Love the sidebar quote, "i'm so crafty, i make people." Adorable. Keep up the fantastic blog.

Michelle said...

Yummy!I had to tell you I stayed up late last night making your bracelts. Only I tried them with stetchy elastic. I love them! Posted them today!

Anonymous said...

Yummy!!i want to try today only...
thanks for this ...


___________________
Melvin
No Credit Checks instant Payday Loans

Unknown said...

I made this for dinner tonight and they were very yummy... plus preparation was probably only about 30 min. Thank so much for another great recipe!

Bonnie Weeks said...

I've had this recipe in my to-make category FOREVER and decided that it would be a good one for Valentine's Day tonight. TOTALLY a keeper! My husband and I both loved it and the zip from the peanut sauce was perfect. Thanks for a good one.

Bonnie Weeks said...

Hi Abby,

So I had tried this before and just recently added/took away a couple things and it was still delicious! In case you're interested http://prettydubs.blogspot.com/2012/09/will-your-kids-eat-healthy-asian-peanut.html

Thanks for the inspiration!!