Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps and Cilantro Lime Rice

At the first sign of warm weather I started thinking about quick dinners perfect for warm nights during the week. The first dish I made was one I've made several times, but never shared here on the blog. It was inspired by one of my favorite restraints, Red Ginger. I rarely get to enjoy the perfect mood lighting, fine decor and amazing food of Red Ginger as its located 6 hours away in Traverse City, Michigan. After my first visit there I knew I had to find a way to recreate an appetizer I thoroughly enjoyed at the restaurant.


Asian Chicken Wraps. Delicious! I googled like a mad man to find something close to the magnificent and fresh flavors I had experienced. After a few tests I came up with something very close to the original. I couldn't have been happier!

I serve these wraps alongside Cilantro Lime Rice. It's add a perfect side dish and slight pop of flavor to go with the main dish. While I had these as an appetizer, I serve them as a meal. I make a large amount of the filling and buy a three pack of Romaine Lettuce. Trust me, you'll want to make the recipe in the quantity below if you're feeding a few people. It will be eaten!

I have posted a recipe that is along the same lines as this, but I used shredded chicken instead. (You can find that recipe here.) Either way, it's a perfectly delicious meal guaranteed to please the hungry stomach any night of the week.

Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

2-4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3 pounds ground chicken

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

2 Tablespoons fresh Cilantro, chopped

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

3 Tablespoons rice vinegar

3-4 Tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 heads Romain Lettuce, minimum

Direction:

1. Prepare Romain Lettuce by cutting off the ends and cleaning thoroughly. Set aside.

2. Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and hoisin sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Cook chicken, in oil, until done. Add onion and cook until onions are tender.

3. Add garlic, ginger, and cilantro and cook until heated thoroughly.

5. Mix in sauce mixture and heat though. Serve along side Cilantro Lime Rice and Romain Lettuce.

6. Enjoy!

Cilantro Lime Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice
2 cups water
Juice of one lime
1-2 Tablespoon fresh Cilantro, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Cook rice as directed.
2. Halfway through cooking add the lime and cilantro.
3. Finish cooking and serve warm.

Single Serving: Asian Chicken over Ginger Cilantro Rice

This dish is a take on a favorite recipe of mine, Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I know that I've mentioned this before, but Red Ginger is one of my favorite restaurants. I first tried Asian Chicken Wraps there. Unfortunately, there is no Red Ginger closet Fort Wayne. However, lucky for me (and now you) someone worked out the recipe and I tracked it down online (sorry I don't remember where I found this recipe!). I've made the wraps a few times and I decided to change it up a little. The wrap recipe uses ground chicken and a few different ingredients and the vegetables are more minced than diced. With this recipe I used chicken tenders and then shredded them. I also added green pepper, green onion, and left the vegetables more diced than minced. Also, I served the chicken over some Ginger Cilantro Rice. I tried to make this a single serving, but you really do get two healthy portions from the recipe. Which for me, worked just right because it took care of dinner and then lunch the next day. ;-)

*Note* - I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of Minute Rice, but I certainly didn't want to take the time to cook up a single serving of rice. I really think that the dish as a whole works really well and I could look past the Minute Rice. 

Ginger Cilantro Rice

To make the rice I simply followed the directions on the box, but cut one serving in half. After the rice is added to the boiling water to set I added the ginger and about 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro. The ginger is all to your taste. I personally like a ginger flavor, yet want it all to be balanced. This dish would also be just as good over plain white rice.

Asian Chicken         [Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 chicken breast tenders
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 green pepper, diced
• 1 glove of garlic, minced
• 1 cup diced mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 Tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon green onion, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 Tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 2 Tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, and sugar in a small bowl and mix. Set aside.
2. Warm 2 Tablespoons oil in a saute pan and add chicken. Cook chicken until completely cooked, set aside.
3. Saute onion (not green onion) and green pepper in pan until onions are almost translucent. Add garlic and mushrooms.
4. Add the ginger, cilantro, green onion and cook for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add sauce and stir. Cook for just a few minutes and add the water. 
6. Enjoy!

Edamame & Mushroom Risotto

Today I bring another Italian inspired dish. Risotto! 

This dish is one that I'd been planning on making for days, but for one reason or another, it didn't happen. The dish also took a slightly different direction while I was in the kitchen with the addition of Edamame.