Lettuce Wraps

I've been looking for a good lettuce wrap recipe for a long, long time.  I finally found one that I think I'll keep using.  It seemed like a bit of work the first time, but I think from here on out it will be a lot easier (it's really not that complicated though).  I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com, and it's supposed to be the P.F. Chang's recipe.  It did taste very similar too!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup diced water chestnut
2/3 cup diced mushroom
(3 Tablespoons chopped onion-- I omitted these)
2-3 cloves minced garlic
head of iceberg lettuce

SPECIAL SAUCE:

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar (i substituted with 1Tbs white vinegar and 1Tbs water)
2 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs red chili paste

STIR FRY SAUCE:

2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar (i used 1/4 tsp white vinegar and 1/4 tsp water)

First, dice your vegetables-- mushrooms and water chesnuts (and onions if you used them) into pea sized cubes.  Then, cook your chicken in a pan with some olive oil until cooked through.  Dice chicken as you did the veggies-- small pieces.  Add a bit of oil, the chicken, veggies, and stir fry sauce (mixed together beforehand), and minced garlic back to the pan.  Stir to coat with sauce and let simmer.

Then, make the special sauce.  You can also make it ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to serve.  To make the sauce, first dissolve the sugar into the water by stirring until the mixture is clear.  Then add the soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil and mix (whisk) well.  Wait to add the chili paste before serving and mix well.

Lastly, clean your head of lettuce- pat it dry, and then layer everything in.  We ate this with rice and fruit.

Zucchini Cookies

i made a batch of these this afternoon and they were quite a hit with the whole family!  the best part is they are definitely healthier than the typical chocolate chip cookie-- but, i have to make sure to give some away before i eat the entire tray!

1/2 cup butter, softened.
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup zucchini, (i used my magic bullet to puree it- you can grate it too)
2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350, spray cookie sheets with non stick spray.

2. Cream butter and sugar together

3. Add egg, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and flour into the butter mixture, mix well

5. Stir in zucchini

6. Fold in chocolate chips

7. Drop by tablespoons, about 12 cookies per cookie sheet. 

8. Bake 15-18 min until golden brown. Do not over bake.

*after you make the batter, it may be a little runny due to the wetness of the pureed zucchini.  i put mine in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to harden a bit.

*next time i am going to try using brown sugar instead of white to get a different kind of sweet in them.

Roquefort Pear Salad

via google images

i've made this numerous times for events, and it's so yummy that i decided i need it in my archives for future reference.  most times i just left the dressing on the side, but this last time that i made it i mixed it in and i think it made it better because all the flavors were able to mix together.  i obviously changed it up a bit, especially because i'm not a fan of green onions, so here is what i did:

head of romaine lettuce
1-2 green pears
2-3 avocados
bleu cheese
pecans (+ sugar/cinnamon)
craisins

shred lettuce, thinly slice pears, dice avocado, crumble bleu cheese, and candy the pecans.  (to candy the pecans i put a very small amount of olive oil in a skillet. add 1 cup pecans and 1/2 cup white sugar + dash of cinnamon.  keep the heat on medium and stir constantly until the sugar starts to diminish (melt), then pour pecans onto a plate to cool).

next make the dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
1.5 tsp white sugar
1.5 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic, minced

combine all ingredients and mix in blender.  pour over shredded lettuce and mix well.  add pears, avocado, pecans and craisins and mix.  add bleu cheese on top and mix slightly. and then, eat... and eat.... and eat... because it's divine!