{Skinny} Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So you know how I've been gone for awhile? I know, I'm sorry about that. Several factors caused the absence...

1)We've been very busy! It started with the county fair and it's not over yet. It's shaping up to be a very full fall/winter what with weddings, vacays, speaking engagements, and the usual fall church schedule! And being busy means I haven't had time to try out very many new recipes.

2) I'm on a sort of a diet. I've been using the MyFitnessPal app and by counting calories and working out more I've lost almost 15 lb. since May! I feel great and I think I'm starting to look better too. I'd still like to lose another 10-15 though. That being said, I'm eating and cooking a little differently. Not all of the recipes I've tried have turned out very well.

3) It's been summer. I'm lazy. There, I said it. Too lazy to take photos, too lazy to write.

So, now that we've got the excuses logged, allow me to introduce you to one of my new favorite "skinny" dinners! Hubby and I just love the freshness of this easy dish! The flavors of the sauce are fantastic and you just can't get over the satisfying crunch of crisp lettuce, cabbage, carrots and smoky toasted almonds. Four of these wraps filled me up and still came in under 400 calories! Serve with brown rice and you've got a light, healthy, satisfying meal that won't add to your waistline!

Skinny Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

(printable version)

adapted from SkinnyMom

makes approx. 12 wraps (serves 3-4)

12 small lettuce leaves or 6 large, halved (we like to use romaine)

Filling: 

1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped or shredded chicken breast (I like to cook mine in the crockpot with a few TB of teriyaki or soy sauce, then shred)

2 cups shredded cabbage & carrots (dry coleslaw mix works perfectly!)

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 cup chopped or slivered almonds, toasted

Sauce:

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 TB grated fresh ginger

1 TB toasted sesame oil

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Mix up sauce ingredients until thoroughly combined. To assemble wraps, distribute filling ingredients evenly among lettuce leaves. Drizzle with sauce and roll.

Thai Chicken Pizza

I told you I was on a Thai kick, right? Okay, then I won't belabor the point.

A Thai kick definitely wouldn't be complete without giving this pizza a whirl.

It has all the right components...sweet chili sauce...cilantro...PEANUTS...

I actually used up all my sweet chili sauce on that delicious salad, so what do you think I did about a sauce for the crust?

Yep- I used the leftover dressing from said yummy salad. It was perfect! But, I'm sure that if you don't have some amazing Thai salad dressing leftover hanging around in the back of your fridge, that plain old sweet chili sauce will work just fine.

By the way, this was my first known and deliberate encounter with a shallot. They unwrap like garlic and look like onions and have a mild onion flavor. Don't be deceived by the mild reputation, though- I cried buckets cutting it!

Tears aside...

Enjoy the peanuts.

Thai Chicken Pizza

(printable version)

adapted slightly from Annie's Eats

makes 1 pizza

1 recipe pizza dough

1/4 cup sweet Asian chili sauce (or dressing, if you have it!), plus more for drizzling

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1/2 large zucchini, thinly sliced

1 cup shredded cooked chicken

2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3-4 (better make it 4) TB chopped peanuts

2 TB minced fresh cilantro

ground red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 500.

Follow directions to make crust. Spread chili sauce (or dressing) evenly over crust.

Layer with shallot, zucchini, chicken, cheese and as much red pepper as you like (it's hot!).

Bake pizza 12-14 min. or until crust is lightly browned. Cool slightly, then sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro. Drizzle with extra sauce just before slicing and serving.

Thai Crunch Chicken Salad

I've been on a bit of a Thai food kick.

I think it began with the delicious chicken satay...

then was encouraged by the amazing stir fry I made using the leftover peanut sauce...

and continued by the great little Thai restaurant my friends and I found in Mukilteo on our reunion...

and now, even as I bring to you this scrumptious salad, a Thai pizza recipe has gotten awfully cozy with next Friday night.

I'll confess. I'm not a huge fan of curry. I'm allergic to coconut. I don't even like spicy food. So what is it that draws me to Thai food?

What do you think?

If you guessed "peanuts" or "peanut butter" you would have hit the nail on the proverbial head. Let's be honest. That's all I'm really in it for. The excuse to spread peanut butter all over salads, pizza, noodles, chicken, whatever.

This salad lives up to its name. Crunch. Just about every ingredient in here gives that satisfying feeling. Starting with my new friend.

Readers, meet napa cabbage.

Napa Cabbage, meet readers.

I had never had the privilege of acquaintance with such a cabbage before, in fact, I did not even know such a variety existed until I looked for it at our local supermarket! It is very pretty, chops up nicely, and looks more like iceberg lettuce than its more well known comrade, green cabbage.

Next on the crunch list are carrots and cucumbers. I don't need to tell you about them, do I?

Then we have edamame. Oh, elusive edamame. I could not find these green soybeans anywhere, so what did I do? I subbed in another crunchy lookalike. Sugar snap peas! They worked like a charm with their fresh taste and signature snap. Oh, and I also substituted chives from my garden for the green onion. Yum.

Last on the crunchy lineup are, of course, peanuts. Yay peanuts!

And what is poured on top of all the crunchy goodness? This fabulous tangy-sweet dressing.

Can you guess what's in here? PEANUT BUTTER.

Oh, and other things.

Thai Crunch Chicken Salad

(printable version)

slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is

serves about 6

1 napa cabbage, chopped
1 red cabbage, chopped

6 green onions (or a bunch of chives)

1 large cucumber, peeled, sliced and quartered

2/3 cup chopped or sliced carrots

2/3 cup chopped sugar snap peas (or edamame)

2/3 cup torn fresh cilantro

2/3 cup chopped peanuts

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (grilled is delicious!)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Dressing and Marinade

1 cup sweet chili sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup lite canned coconut milk (or regular skim milk if you're allergic like me!)

6 TB brown sugar

4 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced

2 TB creamy peanut butter

2 tsp sized knobs of fresh ginger, grated

2 limes, juiced

1 TB soy sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking pan with nonstick spray. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then place in the baking dish.

Combine all sauce ingredients in a saucepan, whisking to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 3-4 min. until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and pour half of the sauce over the chicken, turning chicken to coat completely. Set remaining sauce aside to dress salad.

Bake chicken 25-30 min. or until cooked through.

While chicken is cooking, combine all salad ingredients (except for peanuts) in a large bowl and toss. When chicken is done, let cool a few minutes, then shred or chop.

Serve salad, top with chicken, peanuts and dressing.

Chicken Satay {with Peanut Dipping Sauce}

Every once in a great while, I tiptoe into the rather frightening region of Asian cooking. Something about the new and different flavors and ingredients makes my normally fairly bold cooking personae grow shy. However, when I saw this delicious looking recipe for a Thai-inspired chicken satay (which I recently learned is the name for meat grilled on a skewer and served with dipping sauce), I couldn't resist the pull of a challenge. And of course, as you know, I am a sucker for anything with peanut butter in it.

This recipe proved to be like most Asian recipes I try- full of things I don't have on hand! In particular, coconut milk, fish sauce, and sesame oil. Coconut milk was out- I'm allergic (I think) to coconut. I decided to just substitute with regular milk. Now fish sauce, that's just plain scary. The words "fish" and "sauce" should not be together. I expected some slimy, gray oily paste when I arrived in the Asian section of my supermarket. However, once I finally located said fish sauce, it was a rather innocent looking brown liquid- no more off-putting than, say, soy sauce. So it's made out of anchovies- who's to know? Other than me. Oh, well. Moving on. The last special ingredient I needed was sesame oil, but, even though I did locate it, when I spied the price tag I ended up deciding to use regular oil. I knew I wouldn't use it often enough to warrant the cost. Maybe those of you who use sesame oil on a regular basis can tell me if it's worth the extra dough!

All the fun ingredients in hand (okay, so I guess we just narrowed it down to the fish sauce), I prepared the marinade and let the chicken soak for a few hours. Then I threaded them on skewers and hubby grilled them. While he was manning the grill, I prepared the dipping sauce. The dip was a promising concoction of peanut butter, soy sauce, fresh ginger and other yummy additions. Due to my bland-food-loving-anglo-saxon roots, I decided to halve the amount of cayenne pepper. I couldn't resist snagging a sample- it was delicious! Sweet and smooth, with just the right amount of zing on the tail end.

Paired with rice and grilled asparagus, this made a fantastic meal. We thoroughly enjoyed dipping the curry and cilantro flavored chicken in the flavor-packed peanut sauce. If you feel the need to take an exotic journey to the east, look no farther than your backyard grill and a fabulous chicken satay!

Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

(printable version)

adapted from AllYou Magazine

serves 6-8 (I halved it for us!)

Marinade:

1/2 cup coconut milk (or regular milk)

1 TB fish sauce

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp sugar

1 TB chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips

Peanut Sauce:

3 TB soy sauce

2 TB rice vinegar

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more to taste)

2 TB sugar

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 TB sesame oil (or regular oil)

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

Whisk marinade ingredients together. Put chicken in a large ziplock bag; pour in marinade. Seal bag; rub marinade into chicken. Chill for 3 hrs, turning occasionally.

If using bamboo skewers, don't forget to soak them in water for 30 min. prior to using!

Make sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a pan and bring to boil over med. heat, whisking until smooth, about 2-3 min. Thin with more broth if desired. Remove from heat, let cool.

Preheat grill to medium. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Thread each piece of chicken onto a skewer. Grill for 5 to 7 min., turning once, or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink. Serve with sauce.

"Orange" You Glad You Gave it a Try? Then Again, Maybe Not

Today as I was again scouring the internet for something new and useful (this time a crock pot recipe for applesauce), I came across and interesting blog by a woman who had challenged herself to make something in the crock-pot everyday for a whole year. Wow! I cook in mine often, so I had to check out her extensive list of meals. Many things called out to me, and I will likely be back to try other things, but the one that grabbed me this morning was "orange chicken." The recipe looked painless, and I had everything on hand. She said it was delicious. I believe hers was delicious. Mine was another story...

Travis and I had to make a trip into Spokane this afternoon for some church business, so I felt sure it was the perfect day to abandon my well organized monthly menu for this tantalizing crock-pot recipe. I could put it on before lunch and by the time we got home, dinner would be ready and waiting. And so I did. I cut chicken into chunks, dredged it in flour and lightly browned it in the skillet. Then I dumped it in the slow cooker and poured the simple sauce of orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and ketchup over the top, making sure every piece was coated. It looked yummy. I don't know about you, but I love Chinese food! And when a nice restaurant can't be had (or even when it can!), I love the fast food chain Panda Express. They make the most delicious Orange Chicken and I hoped that this just might taste like that...if I were lucky. It certainly looked promising!

When we got home from Spokane, it was a little later than I'd planned, and the minute we walked in the door, I knew something was wrong. I've never smelled burnt orange juice before, but in an instant I knew that's what I was smelling. Sure enough, the edges of the sauce in the pot were black and as I stirred the chicken I saw that it, too, was a little overdone. I immediately shut off the crock-pot, hoping to salvage it somewhat while I put on the rice. It didn't help much.

Maybe reading "Garlic and Sapphires" (a book about a New York restaurant critic) has heightened my awareness of flavors, but I'm not so sure overcooking was the only problem with the chicken. The sauce seemed overpowering, until Travis and I decided we really couldn't taste the chicken anymore. It was dry in parts, but really it seemed all I could taste was strong, bitter, orange juice! This may be partially my own fault, as the crock-pot lady warned on her blog that you should use no-pulp or low-pulp orange juice since pulp has a tendency to become bitter when cooked. Live and learn, I suppose.


It really tasted nothing like Panda's chicken, to my extreme disappointment. Reflecting on it now, their chicken seems less "orangey" and has more of a honey sweetness. I think orange juice concentrate is just too strong.

Well, we ate it, but I don't think I'll try it again. I'd still like to find a good orange chicken recipe, but it doesn't have to be in the crock-pot. I don't think oriental foods seems to lend themselves to slow cooking. It just isn't natural! I tried chow mein once and that just turned out mushy. Oh, well. Haha, guess not everything can be done the easy way!

If you'd like to try the recipe yourself (and without overcooking it!), you can find it here, along with what looks like a lot of other great recipes from the crock-pot lady!

Old Faves, New Craves (Oriental Chicken Salad/Focaccia Bread)

You know how there are some foods that are simply family traditions? Maybe your great-great-great-grandma brought it over from "the old country" quite a few generations ago. Maybe it entered your family more recently. Take my mom's famous Oriental chicken salad. Not so very old, the recipe was given to my mom by her sister, but it has taken its hold on our family. It has attended two of our families' weddings, many potlucks and family get-togethers, and my older brother has even been know to say that it would be his food of choice were he to ever be stranded on a deserted island and had to eat one food for the rest of his life (assuming he had a choice). The uncovering of the salad bowl is usually accompanied by several "ooh"s and lip-licking is sure to follow. Why is it so desirable? Maybe it's because of the pretty blend of colors or the satisfyingly crisp crunch of the cabbage. Maybe it's the lightness of it on a hot summer evening. Or maybe it's the memories we have of the house filled with smells of toasting almonds on a Saturday night. Or the ones I have of sitting at the kitchen counter chopping piles after piles of cabbage while listening to Adventures in Odyssey on the radio or chatting with my dad or a young sibling beside me who is "learning how it's done." Sometimes it seems with family favorites the flavors and aromas are so intertwined with the memories that it is difficult to separate the two.

I had decided today to make my mom's sought-after-salad, since it is a hot summer day and something like a cool, crunchy salad seemed just the thing. My first thought for a side dish was to get out some of my freezer roll dough to make bread sticks, but I only had enough dough for three, which isn't quite enough for my hubby and I! So I thought, well, I'll just have to make my own! And while searching for a bread stick recipe, I stumbled upon a recipe for focaccia bread, which looked absolutely delicious, but not too difficult. So, in-between my usual Friday/Saturday duties of getting the bulletin and the PowerPoint done for church, I mixed, kneaded and let my focaccia bread rise. It is very aromatic, sprinkled through with rosemary!

Later on, as the last of the rising was happening on my stove top, I cooked up a large chicken breast, and began chopping away at a head of cabbage, memories flooding over me. Into the oven went the focaccia bread, along with the sesame seeds and slivered almonds to toast. Needless to say, I cut the recipe in half. This really feeds a crowd, so even halved, my husband and I have leftovers!

When everything was sliced, diced and toasted to perfection and the bread was giving a wonderful scent to my kitchen, it all went together into a pretty salad bowl. When mixing up the dressing, I had to make one substitution...mom always made the dressing with rice vinegar, and since I had none on hand I replaced it with cider vinegar. This resulted in it not tasting just like mom used to make, but pretty close! :)

I tossed the dressing with the salad just as the bread was cooling. Taking a bite of each, I decided that the old held up its reputation with honor and the new made a delightful addition!

Mom's Oriental Chicken Salad
(printable version)

serves about 12

2-3 cups cooked chicken (diced)

1/2 cup sesame seeds

3/4 cup slivered almonds

2 pkgs ramen noodles

1 lg head green cabbage, thinly sliced

1 bunch green onions, sliced

Dressing:

1 cup oil

6 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

flavor packet from ramen noodles (chicken flavor)

salt and pepper to taste

Toast sesame seeds, slivered almonds, and ramen (broken apart) on cookie sheet in 350 oven for 10-15 min. Let cool. Combine all ingredients (except dressing) and mix well. Pour dressing over all and toss to coat.

Betty Crocker's Focaccia Bread
(printable version)

makes 2 loaves

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour

1 tbsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 pkg yeast

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup very warm water

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Mix 1 cup flour, rosemary, sugar, salt and yeast. Add oil and water. Beat with mixer 3 min. Stir in remaining flour. Knead 5 to 8 minutes. Grease lg bowl, place dough in bowl and turn to coat. Cover loosely and let rise 30 min. Grease two round pizza pans. Deflate dough with fist and divide in half. Shape into 10 in rounds on pans. Cover loosely and let rise 30 min. Make depressions in dough with fingertips 2 in. apart. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in 400 oven 15-20 min.