Lettuce Wraps

Tried recipe from DamnDelicious

Ingredients:

-1 lb ground chicken (turkey)

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 onion, diced

-1/4 cup hoisin sauce

-2 Tbsp soy sauce

-1Tbsp rice wine vinegar

-1Tbsp freshly grated ginger

-1 Tbsp Sriracha

-1 (8 oz) can of whole water chestnuts, drained and diced

-2 green onions, thinly sliced

-pepper and salt

-1 head of butter lettuce

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in saucepan and add ground meat.  Cook until browned about 3-5 min.  Drain excess fat (wasn't any because 99%)

2. Stir in garlic, onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, and Sriracha until onions translucent, about 1-2 min

3. Stir in chestnuts and green onions until tender, about 1-2 min.

4. Season with salt and pepper (forgot)

So, I also made Chinese green beans (1 lb) + rice + the microwaved Chinese buns.  It ended up being too much food the first night and didn't eat rice the 2nd night.  So all in all, I think this could be 3 meals with green beans, rice, and Chinese buns.

*Asian

General Tso's Chicken

I can't believe I haven't tried this recipe yet, but got it from Skinnytaste.com

I doubled the amounts.

Ingredients:

-2 lbs chicken breast - says to cut into bite-sized pieces, but I felt that it was difficult to flip, so recommend cutting chicken tenders in half for bigger pieces to flip

-1/2 cup soy sauce, divided

-1/2 cup cornstarch, divided (consider arrowroot)

-2 large egg whites

-2 inch piece of ginger

-4 cloves of garlic

-scallions, separate whites and greens

-2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

-2 tsp sriracha sauce

-6 Tbsp hoisin

-sesame oil

-sesame seeds for garnish

-orange zest

-honey

-1 jalapeno, thinly sliced 

-1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (julienned)

-1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Chop veggies - bell peppers, onions, jalapenos, scallions (set aside greens for garnish)

2. Cuisinart garlic and ginger.  

3. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) soy sauce, 6 Tbsp cornstarch, and egg whites.  Toss to combine.

4. Heat small sauce pot over medium heat.  Add 2 tsp sesame oil, ginger, garlic, scallion whites, jalapenos.  Sauté for 1 minute.

5. Mix 2 Tbsp corn starch with the chicken broth and whisk until clumps gone. Add to pot.

6. Add 1/4 cup soy sauce, sriracha (1 squirt), honey (1 squirt), and hoisin, orange zest. Whisk to combine.

7. Once thickened, turn heat low and keep warm. Add the bell peppers and onions to sauce.  

8. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add some sesame oil and chicken (don't crowd).  Cook chicken for 3-4 min or until browned on the edges.  Flip chicken and cook an additional 2-3 min or until cooked through.  Can do in batches if needed

9. Add sauce to the skillet and toss to coat

10.  Sprinkle with scallion greens and sesame seeds.

Notes:

Served with baked broccoli (with sesame oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, white pepper) and brown rice.

I didn't mix the corn starch with broth ahead of time and had clumps in the sauce to deal with.

Seemed like a lot of work, but tasted pretty good.  

I estimated honey - like 1-2 Tbsp - seemed to sweet, so cut out or add less next time.

*Asian

Harissa Chicken

Made bulk Harissa paste from TheMediterraneandish.com
I tried doubling the servings because the jar of roasted red peppers was 12 oz, but I didn't get to double the bag of chiles because I only bought 1 bag. I made the paste a day ahead of cooking (Saturday), let it rest in the fridge for 24 hrs.  I reserved about 4 Tbsp for cooking the next day, and then put the rest in the ice tray and froze.  Knocked out and stored in ziploc freezer bag.

Ingredients:
-7 dried New Mexico Chiles or Guajillo Chiles (1 bag)
-6 oz jarred roasted red peppers drained, rinsed, and dried
-2 Tbsp tomato paste
-4 large garlic cloves
-1 tsp caraway seeds toasted and ground (toasted in skilled, then used cuisinart, then mortar and pestle)
-2 tsp ground coriander
-2tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp smoked paprika
-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
-kosher salt
-juice of 1 large lemon (2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice)
-2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Soak and prepare the dried chiles.  Place dried chiles in a heat-safe bowl and cover with hot water.  Set aside for 30 min until chiles are tender and re-hydrated.  Drain chiles and remove the stems and seeds.

2. Combine chiles with remaining ingredients.  Transfer chiles to food processor.  Add tomato paste, roasted red peppers, garlic, ground caraway seeds, coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, and pinch of kosher salt.   Add fresh lemon juice

3. 

Run the food processor, and while it's running, drizzle the extra virgin olive oil from the top opening.  Stop processor to scrape down the sides and run again until you reach desired paste-like texture.  

4. Store.  Transfer harissa paste to clean mason jar.  Cover with a very thin layer of  extra virgin olive oil, then cover jar with its lid tightly and refrigerate - good for 6 weeks, but I just froze.

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Harissa Chicken Recipe

Modified from feelgoodfoodie.net 

There are several recipes out there.  I actually didn't measure out the spices because I marinated the chicken with the Harissa paste.

Ingredients:

-Extra virgin olive oil

-2 Tbsp Harissa paste (used like 4)

-4 garlic cloves, cuisinart-ed

-1 tsp paprika

-1 tsp cumin

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp pepper

-2 pounds chicken breast, cut into chunks

-Veggies - green bell pepper, zucchini, yellow onion, can of chickpeas (would probably cut the green bell pepper next time and use more zucchini or cauliflower

-Avocado

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken with 2 Tbsp Harissa paste + a little more of the spices above for 2 or more hours

2. Cook chicken and remove

3. Add veggies to skillet and add more Harissa paste (like a Trader Joe Jar).  

4. Add chickpeas last

5. I did add a little bit of water to veggies.

*UPDATE

Marinated chicken with 1 Tbsp Harissa paste

Veggies I used: zucchini, yellow onion, can of chickpeas, bag of cauliflower (steamed in microwave), avocado.  Topped with cilantro helped. Eric said he would cut out zucchini and add more cauliflower.  Would cook the cauliflower in the oven next, too.

*Mediterranean