Asian Lettuce Wraps

2 tsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 lb ground chicken or finely diced chicken
3 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped (about 8 small mushrooms)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 C bagged coleslaw mix or thinly shredded cabbage
1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained, rinsed, and finely minced
1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
4 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3-4 Tbs juice)
1/3 C roughly chopped cilantro
1-2 heads iceberg lettuce

Dipping/Drizzling Sauce
4 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs rice vinegar
3 Tbs water
2 tsp honey
1-2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp sriracha (or put a small amount in individual portions of the sauce to adjust the spice)

Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top. When hot, add vegetable oil and then garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through. (*At this point, sometimes I have some extra liquid in the pan from the chicken. If it’s quite a bit, I tilt the pan and spoon it out so the chicken can cook and not boil.) Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.

To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce. (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!) Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce.

Yield: about 5 C chicken mixture. Makes 14-16 lettuce wraps.

Recipe from Our Best Bites
The only thing I changed was to put the hot sauce in the dipping sauce instead of the wraps so that some of us could have it spicy and some could have it mild. And I did dice the chicken because it didn't seem like it was worth the mess of grinding it. I liked the chicken diced and will probably always do it like that.

Jambalaya

2 teaspoons oil
1 chicken breast (sometimes I just leave this out)

1 cup diced ham
1.2 lb smoked sausage


1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups bell peppers (mixture of red, green, yellow, and/or orange), seeded & finely chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups long grain white rice

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 can (14.5 oz) diced, undrained tomatoes,
3 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
Tony's creole seasoning to taste

1 pound medium shrimp, shelled (optional)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking, about 2 minutes. Season chicken with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add chicken to pan and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken and cook until golden brown on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to plate and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add diced ham and sausage; cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer ham and sausage to paper towel–lined plate and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium-low, add vegetables and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon, until vegetables have softened, about 4 minutes. Add rice, salt, thyme, and chili powder; cook, stirring frequently, until rice is coated with fat, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaves, and browned ham and sausage to pot; stir to combine. Place chicken on rice. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir once, keeping chicken on top, skinned-side down. Replace cover and continue to simmer until the internal temperature of the chicken is 160 degrees, about 10 minutes more; transfer chicken to clean plate and set aside for ten minutes (this keeps the chicken from drying out). Scatter shrimp over rice, cover, and continue to cook until rice is fully tender and shrimp are opaque and cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Add Creole seasoning to taste.

Shred chicken. When shrimp are cooked, discard bay leaves; off heat, stir in parsley and shredded chicken, and serve immediately.


Adapted from Joelen