Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

(with honey-peanut sauce)

I love to get these as an appetizer when I go to the Cheesecake Factory. For some reason I can't get enough Thai food these days! While these were labor intensive- chopping for days- I found them definitely worth the time (about 45-50 minutes). I absolutely loved the sauce. I'm not sure how I feel about the water chestnuts, but overall the wraps were amazing. To eat them, I rolled the lettuce up like a taco.

The recipe below came from here.

For the lettuce wraps:

• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 green onions, chopped, divided use
• 1/3 cup julienned carrots
• 1 (5 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts, divided
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, divided
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
• Salt
• Pepper
• 8-12 lettuce leaves

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1-1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Whisk all sauce ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Heat oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Saute onion, garlic, half the green onions and carrots until soft, 7-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. To the pan, add chicken, water chestnuts, remaining green onions, half the peanuts, half the cilantro, Sriracha and soy sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well. Allow the mixture to cook for 1-2 minutes more.
4. Serve the mixture with lettuce leaves and garnish with cabbage, remaining peanuts and cilantro, and honey-peanut sauce.

Wonton Tacos

While visiting family in Cedar, my aunt Kathy shared this recipe with me. It is one of her family's favorites. The recipe below is slightly adapted from blog chef. This is a copy cat recipe of Applebee's wonton tacos. Be sure to check out the beautiful pictures of the wonton tacos she made in her post. Delicious!

Ingredients:

1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (sliced into small chunks)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons stir fry sauce
8 tablespoons Asian toasted sesame dressing
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 cup coleslaw mix
2 tablespoons Asian toasted sesame dressing

10 wonton wrappers_oil (for frying)

Toppings:
4 tablespoons green onions (sliced)
4 tablespoons cilantro (chopped)
4 tablespoons red onion (diced)

Directions:

Step 1: In a bowl or sealable plastic bag. Combine stir fry sauce, Asian toasted sesame dressing, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce. Add chicken and mix well with the sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 2: In a medium bowl toss coleslaw mix with 2 tablespoons of Asian sesame dressing. Set aside.
Step 3: Heat olive oil in a wok over high heat. Add chicken with the marinade and stir fry until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove from the wok and transfer to a bowl. Add about 1/2 inch of oil to the wok over medium high. Fold the wonton wrappers into a triangle formation but do not seal. Place into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on one side. Turn once and fry until golden brown on the other side. Drain on paper towels.
Step 4: To make tacos- place a small amount of the chicken mixture into the bottom of the fried wonton. Top with coleslaw mixture, green onion, cilantro and red onion

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

(Twice dipped)

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil for frying

2 C flour

1 TB Dry Mustard 

1 TB Paprika

1 TB Garlic Powder

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 C buttermilk

1 1/2 to 2 Pounds chicken tenders.

* Variation- can also add 1TB dry ranch mix/ packet to flour mixture

Directions:

1. Add enough vegetable oil to a high sided skillet to go up the side about 1 Inch. Place over medium heat and bring the temperature up to 350 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, place the handle- end of a wooden spoon in the oil. If tiny bubbles appear around the handle, you're there.

2. While the oil is heating up, place the flour in a shallow baking dish and add the dry mustard, paprika, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Mix thoroughly to combine.

3. Place the buttermilk in a second baking dish. Dip the chicken tenders into the flour, shaking off excess. Dip into the buttermilk and coat. Dip back into the flour, then the buttermilk, and then give it a final dip in the flour.

4. The double coating will give you a crispy, thick crust. Carefully place the chicken tenders into the hot oil and fry on both sides until golden brown and cooked through. Place on paper towel plate to cool after cooking, and sprinkle with salt.

We love to serve it with potato salad, baked beans, pasta salad, or fruit!