Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So, I am a sucker for PF Changs, despite knowing that their menu is sinful. (I am also a sucker for Cheesecake Factory, and a good old fashioned cheeseburger, but I know, no one's asking). While my absolute favorite is Mongolian Beef, my lack of portion control makes this dish a whopping 1011 calories as I polish off the entire plate of ooey, gooey, beefy goodness. 

A close second runner up, is the Chicken Lettuce Wraps. These babies are shareable (although you wouldn't necessarily want to...) and even if you don't, they only weigh in at 640 calories for the whole appetizer sized portion. And believe me, the appetizer portion is p.l.e.n.t.y. for one person's meal in terms of both size, and taste factor. YummO. 

Click here for PF Changs nutritional info

I decided recently that Asian inspired lettuce wraps sounded like a great weeknight meal. This was prompted while eating turkey taco salad, and realizing that the turkey meat would make a delightful little mexi-lettuce wrap. And I set out to find a recipe for Chicken Lettuce Wraps... and this is what I was lucky enough to stumble upon. 

The Recipe:

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Recipe adapted from realsimple.com

Ingredients:

3+2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, separated
3+2 tablespoons honey, separated
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 lb ground chicken
Black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced
1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained (mine were thick, I sliced in half lengthwise)
1/4 cup roasted unsalted cashews (eyeballed)
1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated

Instructions:

1. Combine 3 Tbl each soy sauce and honey in a small bowl and whisk to mix. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown.
4. Lower heat to medium and stir in the minced garlic and ginger. Add scallions and cook for appx 1 minute.
5. Stir in the water chestnuts and the soy sauce mixture. Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and sprinkle with the cashews.
6. Divide the lettuce leaves among plates and spoon the chicken over the top. Mix remaining soy sauce and honey to make a sauce for drizzling.

Adaptations:

• The original recipe called for chicken breast, chopped up. I decided that ground chicken would work a bit better for the lettuce wraps.
• Because of this, I also doubled the amount of sauce because the chicken mixture needed a bit more moisture.
• You could probably use Agave Nectar instead of honey.

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Laugh much,

cook often,

and always

wear stilettos
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