Asian Lettuce Wraps

I made these last night and couldn't believe how the kids gobbled them up. I think they liked making their own wrap, and the veggies were easy to eat diced up with the other ingredients. I'll definitely add it into my standard dinner rotation! I don't know if this recipe is better than any other in particular, but we really liked them. They best thing is you can adapt and add a little more or less of what you prefer.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

2 pkg (3oz) chicken-flavor ramen noodles
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 each red and yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced green onions with tops
1 medium cucumber sliced into small pieces
2 medium carrots sliced into small pieces

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 garlic, pressed
1 half inch piece peeled fresh gingerroot, pressed (use garlic press!)
2 tsp Asian seasoning (I just added ground ginger, a little red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, and a little pepper)

lettuce leaves (about 1 head, I just used iceberg)

optional: (but yummy)
peanuts, chopped
sweet and sour sauce

Boil about 3 cups of water, add ramen (broken up) and seasoning, cook 2 minutes, stir. Drain and rinse under cold water. Place noodles, chicken, bell peppers, green onions, cucumbers, and carrots in a big bowl, mix.

Combine soy sauce, oil, garlic, ginger, and seasonings. Toss to coat chicken noodle mixture. Cover and refrigerate.

Remove full lettuce leaves and rinse well, dry.

To eat, place lettuce leaf on your plate, spoon noodle mixture on top, top with peanuts and sweet and sour sauce, wrap up in lettuce leaf like a healthy burrito!

Grilled Curry Chicken with Spinach-Coconut Rice

We made this for Sunday dinner, and had it for leftovers tonight (and it tasted even better). The picture I'm posting is the leftover meal, so it's all dumped in one bowl. It is so yummy and a good warmer weather meal. Delicious with the limes squeezed over!

Grilled Curry Chicken with Spinach-Coconut Rice

1 1/2 c plus 2 T canola oil, divided
2 T smooth peanut butter
2 T chopped cilantro
1 T salt
1 T curry powder
2 t minced ginger
1 t tamarind concentrate (hard to find, I usually just omit)
5 t minced garlic, divided
4 boneless, skinless chicken
1 can (13oz) unsweetened coconut milk
3 c jasmine rice
2 large onions, sliced
1 1/2 lb fresh baby spinach, cleaned
Salt to taste
Lime wedges and cilantro for garnish

In blender combine 1 1/2 c oil, pb, cilantro, salt, curry, ginger, tamarindo, and 3 t garlic, until smooth. Place chicken in resealable plastic bags and pour in marinade. Refrigerate overnight.

Remove chicken from marinade, pour marinade liquid into small sauce pan and boil until reduced by half. Grill (or broil) chicken, 12-14 min, turning once. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing into strips. Serve with sauce on side. (I usually pour some sauce over the chicken slices before serving to get more good saucy flavor.

Meanwhile, pour coconut milk into large measuring cup. Add enough cold water to make 6 cups, bring to boil in sauce pan. Stir in rice and return to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. (I do this all in my rice cooker, it's fine).

Heat remaining oil in large nonstick skillet. Add onions and saute’ until softened, 4-5 minutes. Add remaining garlic, spinach, and 2 T water. Cover and simmer until spinach wilts, about 3 minutes. Season with salt. Stir into rice; toss to combine (I don't do this, cause some wimpy people are scared by spinach and delicious grilled onions, so I dish them separately).

Garnish with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

These enchiladas are so good!!! I got the recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs.. http://www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/. I did make a couple of changes to the original recipe. The initial recipe calls for 6 Tbsp. Honey, but I use 4 Tbsp. so it's not so sweet. Also, I add a little of the sauce on the inside of the enchiladas so they don't end up dry. You could also add some garlic and onions if you'd like. The first time I made this I used 3 small chicken breasts, but this time I used 2 large. Also, in a pinch you could buy a rotisserie chicken and shred that.

Ingredients
4-6 Tbsp. honey
1/3 c. lime juice
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 lb. chicken, cooked and shredded
8-10 flour tortillas
1 lb. monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 oz. green enchilada sauce
1 c. (approx.) heavy cream

Mix the first four ingredients and add the shredded chicken. Let marinate for at least a half hour. Mix the green sauce and the cream together. Use as much or as little cream you like according to taste. Spread approx. 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Fill the tortillas with the chicken, cheese, a scoop of sauce, and roll up. Pour the remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 30 min. until brown and crispy on top.

"Hawaiian BBQ Chicken"
This is one of my favorite recipes. We eat this at least twice a month and since there is only two of us, I get to enjoy the leftovers for lunch for several days. It is really good served with rice. I don't have a picture right now, but the next time we have it I will take one then.


6 chicken thighs
1 Cup pineapple juice
2 cans pineapple chunks, (these are the small cans, or just use one large can) use the juice from these for the above 1 cup of pineapple juice
1/2 Cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, or dried if you don't have fresh

Marinate the chicken thighs with the rest of the ingredients for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator, I marinate for a least two hours in a zip-lock bag.

Place thighs, marinade including the pineapple chunks, in a baking pan and cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Turn heat to broil and broil for an additional 5 minutes until the skin is crispy.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Put the pan on the stove and make a Rue, (flour and water mix) add this to the sauce and stir until thickened.

Top the chicken with some of the gravy and use the rest of the gravy for rice.

Don't do what I did. This is pretty embarrassing; I used to have this huge blue glass pan that I would cook this recipe in. Not thinking, I put the "glass pan" on the stove (not a good idea) to mix the Rue in when the pan exploded. I had blue glass all over the kitchen!

Lemon Chicken

This is a totally easy recipe I actually got from the 3rd ward's cookbook! Then I looked on the side of the soy sauce, and it is basically the same recipe found there. Super Duper easy and surprisingly good, not the taste I expected. I even got to use my first lemons from my lemon tree! We'll definitely make it again. (You could serve it with pasta or rice, we just had good bread).

Lemon Chicken

4 chicken breast
2 T butter
1 clove garlic, crushed (I used 2)
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp flour
1/2 c. cream or millk, slightly whipped ( I didn't slightly whip)
salt & pepper to taste
juice of 1 lemon

Brown the chicken in the butter and garlic til white (about 5-6 minutes per side). Add the lemon juice, soy sauce, and seasonings. Lower heat to simmer, cover and cook 25 minutes. When done, remove chicken pieces to a separate plate and add to the skillet the cream/milk, stirring constantly, then the flour, still stirring. Replace the chicken in the skillet and let simmer another few minutes.

Chicken and Broccoli Bake

This is my children's favorite dinner!  I got the recipe from an old Lion House cook book.  Where it calls for cooked chicken, I sometimes substitute (cover your ears, Amanda) canned chicken from Costco.   It still tastes really yummy.  I also sprinkle fried onions on top before baking to give it some extra pizazz.  The recipe doesn't call for this, but we like to serve it over rice.

Ingredients

2-4 chicken breast halves, cooked and diced

2-3 10-oz. packages frozen broccoli, cooked or 2 lbs. fresh broccoli trimmed and cooked

1 can (10 1/2 oz.) cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon lemon juice

fried onions (opt. but we love it)

cooked rice (you don't need this, but we like it)

In a 9x9x2-inch dish, arrange broccoli with flowerettes pointed out toward edge of dish.  Lay chicken meat over broccoli.  Make a sauce by combining soup, milk, and mayonnaise and stir until smooth.  Add cheese and lemon juice.  Pour sauce over chicken and broccoli to cover chicken pieces completely.   Sprinkle with fried onions, if desired.  Cover pan with aluminun foil and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes.  Serve over rice, if desired.  Makes 6 adult servings.

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