- Hey guys, I'm back this week
with another real-time recipe for you!
And this time we're making one of my favorite
weeknight meals for the summertime.
And that's my Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
I love this recipe because it's quick,
it's easy and healthy,
and it comes together in 15 minutes or less!
Starting now, so, the first thing I wanna do
is take you on a tour of the sauces
that we have here.
Now at first glance, you might be thinking,
"Beth, that looks like a lot of condiments,
"I don't want to go out and spend a fortune
"for this recipe."
But the thing is, is A, I bet you have
more than one of these sauces in your pantry already,
and B, all of these are really pretty inexpensive.
You can get basically everything you see here
for under $10.
That way if you have all these ingredients
in your pantry,
you only need to stop off at the market
for the fresh ingredients.
So I stock up on all of these
at the beginning of the month,
and then I can make this recipe
at least five or six times,
before I run low on any of them.
So, they are as follows.
We have our soy sauce,
rice wine vinegar,
a little bit of sweet chili sauce,
red pepper flakes,
and Chinese mustard.
Now if you didn't want to go out
and buy Chinese mustard,
you could just use regular Dijon mustard,
that would work too.
Okay, so the first thing we're gonna do
is get our pan going,
and we're gonna add just some
lightly flavored oil,
I'm using a sesame oil,
but really anything would work.
And then we're gonna take our mushrooms.
So, I have about a cup of sliced mushrooms here
and that's another time-saving tip.
If you have the choice at the market,
get the mushrooms that are already sliced.
Saves a ton of time.
Okay, so we're just going to give them
a rough chop.
Now, I will say this,
this is not a traditional Chinese lettuce wrap recipe,
I am sure all of our Chinese viewers
that are watching this might be questioning
my technique here,
but it's really the quickest recipe I know.
And that's what we're after.
So, it's sort of my Chinese lettuce wrap version.
So forgive me if it's not totally authentic!
Okay.
So the idea is you just wanna chop the mushrooms
so that they're in roughly tiny pieces.
It's really good with this recipe
if everything you chop that goes into it
is roughly the same size.
It'll just make it easier to eat.
And don't worry about getting it all exact.
The mushrooms will shrink down as they cook.
So we're then going to put these in the pan.
(pan sizzles)
Like that.
Okay.
There we go, stir those around.
Another reason why I like this recipe
is that you can multi-task.
So while these mushrooms are cooking
we're gonna get on with making the sauce.
So the sauce is really pretty easy.
All we're gonna do
is we're gonna put together some soy sauce--
now you could use a little low-sodium soy
if you were looking for something
that's a little bit healthier.
So you're going to do six.
One... two...
three.
The idea is just to use equal parts soy
and vinegar.
So sometimes when I'm really in a rush,
I don't even measure it out.
I just eyeball it.
And once you make this dish enough,
you'll probably be able to do that too.
And then we're going to take our rice wine vinegar,
which is just a really nice Asian style vinegar.
Okay, that's probably good there,
give that a stir.
And then
we're going to add some of this.
This is the sweet chili sauce.
I get mine at Trader Joe's and I really love it.
It is like my most favorite condiment.
I'll use it as a dipping sauce
for little appetizers sometimes,
or with pot stickers,
it's just really nice, and marinades, too.
It's gonna give our dipping sauce
a nice sweetness.
And this is the thing I also like about this recipe,
is we're gonna make this sauce for our chicken
but it's also gonna be our dipping sauce.
So that way we don't have to stop down
and make an additional dipping sauce.
For a weeknight meal,
we have to be quick and easy, right?
Okay, so we've got that.
Then, we're going to take a little bit of heat
and we're going to add some red pepper flakes.
I do about a quarter of a teaspoon.
But if you like it spicier, by all means,
you can add more.
And then a little bit of the mustard.
About half a teaspoon.
I really love this Chinese mustard.
I mean normally I have lots of Dijon mustard
at our house, but for an extra $1.19
I think is what this cost,
I love to just have it in the repertoire.
It's just a little bit stronger than Dijon,
and really packs a punch.
Okay, and we're just going to stir that up.
The idea is you wanna make sure
that all that mustard is well incorporated.
'Cause you can imagine chomping down
on a bit of that.
And at this point our mushrooms are done.
You see what they look like,
they're releasing their juices?
This is what you want.
And now we are going to add our chicken.
So I love to buy ground chicken for this recipe,
because then you don't have any chicken to chop!
Again, another great time-saving device.
All right, so in it goes.
I also will buy the dark meat chicken
because I find that it doesn't dry out
as much as the white meat chicken would do.
It's also sometimes a little bit cheaper,
which is nice, too.
Okay, see and if your chicken looks a little dry
like this is you can also add
a little bit more oil.
I think I let the mushrooms go
a little bit too far.
I was busy chatting!
Here we go.
So that is looking pretty good.
So we're just going to let that sit there
and hang out and cook,
while we finish the rest of our sauce.
So the next part with our sauce,
let's just clean this up a bit,
so I'm not making a total mess.
Is to add some garlic.
So I am a big fan of fresh.
You know me, fresh is best.
But if you only had garlic powder,
you could do that.
I find though, that the fresh ingredients,
like the fresh garlic and the fresh ginger
as opposed to the powder
just, really is more flavorful
and sometimes those powders
can just feel a little processed to me,
so I always like to have the fresh ingredients
whenever I can.
And we're going to take our garlic press,
again, another time saving device,
I love a garlic press, 'cause look at that.
Beautifully minced garlic!
And we don't need to chop it.
A lot of you have asked me about this garlic press
in the comments
it's really one of my favorite kitchen tools.
But you've asked me about what the brand is
and I think it's called Rosalie?
Rosle, Rosle.
Excuse me if I'm not pronouncing that right.
But I do love it, because it's really heavy,
and that is the secret to a good garlic press.
You wanna make sure it's nice and heavy
so that you get a very strong press.
It's great, I put it in the dishwasher and everything.
I'll put a link in the description,
so if you guys wanna get one,
you'll know where to get it.
Okay, so then, we're gonna mix that up.
And then the next thing we're gonna add
is some ginger.
I'm gonna go ahead and just cut
the skin off
like that.
And then we are going to grate it.
So you're looking for probably
two teaspoons or so?
I love the ginger in this recipe,
it makes it so fresh and so delicious.
And then we wanna
just keep an eye on our chicken here.
Let's see.
So you have to be a good multitasker
if you wanna have dinners quick.
And now, it's very quiet and peaceful
here in my kitchen,
it's just me and my talented crew.
Normally I have two children
that are jumping all over me
we're doing homework at the same time,
we're packing lunches and it's completely chaotic.
And this recipe does hold up to all that.
So if that's the thing,
these real time recipes,
they only make it to you guys
if it stands the test of family chaos, okay?
Another thing you could do
is get the sauce all ready to go
before you head off to school or work
and then when you come home
you don't have any of this measuring to do
with the sauce, you're all ready to go.
So that would be another way to save time.
There, it's looking good.
Just want to make sure that that's all cooked.
Okay, so while that's doing that,
we're going to finish our ginger here.
Ooo, aaa!
You never know what's going to happen
on these real time recipes!
Ooopsie!
It's just as good, don't worry.
So you get to see all my little flubs!
Missteps. It's okay.
We're on pursuit of a quick and easy recipe.
So, that's what's most important.
That's probably about good.
And then if you're micro-plane sticks
you can just tap it
and that will release the rest of the ginger.
So our sauce is ready,
and the next thing we're gonna do
is chop some additional vegetables.
The other thing that's going to go into this
are some beautiful, chopped scallions.
So we know them here as scallions
but you may also know them as green onions.
They look like this.
Whatever you know them as in your country,
that's what we're gonna use.
So we're just going to slice them off.
And then we're going to thinly
slice.
Now we're gonna use both
the white parts and the green parts.
I tell ya, I really don't like those recipes
that just say use the white parts
or the green parts,
because then what are you supposed to do
with the other half?
So this way there's no waste,
we're gonna use it all.
It's all going in.
It's all delicious and fresh.
And just gives you a nice bit of crunch as well.
There we go.
So we're gonna pop those in,
our chicken is looking good.
Now at this point, because our chicken is done,
we're going to want to use a different spoon
to stir it.
We don't want to use the same spoon
that was touching our raw chicken.
So that's actually looking pretty good.
So once the chicken is done,
if you still have some prep work to do,
you can just lower the flame
and just kinda keep it warm.
The next thing we're going to add
are some water chestnuts.
If you're not familiar with them,
you get them in the Asian aisle
of your grocery store
and they're usually packed in water
and they come in a can like this.
What's nice about them
is they're going to give our lettuce cups
a nice crunch.
All you have to do
is keep these in your pantry
again, with that collection of sauces
and then you'll always have this meal
moments away.
And then we're just going to drain out the water.
Make sure we get that all drained out.
And then we're gonna just give them
a rough chop.
You're gonna wanna chop them
like we did the mushrooms,
just so it's roughly the same size
as everything else we've got going on.
There you go.
And again, you know, they have
I think a lot of fiber in them
'cause they do fill you up.
So it's nice to have something
that fills you up but doesn't add a lot of calories!
My husband loves this recipe too,
this is one of his favorites.
Especially when you're trying
to go easy on the carbs,
because it's just a lot of protein and veggies,
and there aren't any real carbs involved.
Now we're gonna add our water chestnuts.
Give that a stir.
And then the final step is just to add our sauce.
What I normally will do
is add about half.
And the reason is
is because we wanna reserve the other half
for our dipping sauce.
So, just kinda add as much as you think you need
just so that all the chicken is coated.
Remember we have all that spice in there
we've got that mustard and the ginger
and the garlic
and that soy sauce and the vinegar
it's gonna give this chicken great flavor.
Okay, so I think that that's probably good
right?
And this recipe makes enough to feed
at least two or three.
I think it makes a good dinner if everybody
gets maybe three lettuce cups,
and that usually does it for us.
So I have my lettuce here,
I'm using a nice butter leaf lettuce.
I love it because it creates little cups
and it's a beautiful green.
That just makes it so summery.
So we're gonna add our dipping sauce
in the center.
And then we are just going to spoon out
the chicken.
So the chicken gets pretty hot,
so I would recommend spooning it in.
Rather than taking the lettuce cup in your hand
a little bit better if you actually take the chicken
to the lettuce cup,
and then that way you won't burn yourself.
Okay, there.
See and then, let's turn it around.
Now, this is if I'm putting together
and I have the time,
a nice little platter,
but sometimes when I'm really in a rush,
I will just make this, bring the pot to the table,
and pile up the lettuce leaves on a separate plate,
and let everybody serve themselves.
That's even quicker.
There.
See, and dinner is ready.
Now, you probably wanna see
how you actually eat these.
And I think I am gonna show you.
Because it does get a little bit messy
but that is part of the fun.
So the idea is to take it
almost like a little taco, see.
And then if you wanna have
a little dipping sauce,
you can pour that on top.
See, just like that.
So delicious!
Okay, goin' in.
It's gonna get messy.
I apologize in advance.
See and you just eat it like this!
Mmmm.
Oh, that's so good.
Really fresh.
Really flavorful,
and really healthy!
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think,
I hope everybody's having a good summer.
And I'll see you back here next week,
when we are going to kick off
our back to school month.
That's right,
a whole month of back to school menus
to get you guys ready for college
or school, or wherever the fall is taking you.
I'll see you soon, bye!