Healthy Asian Lettuce Wraps

Hey guys!! I've been trying to eat healthier recently so I've been trying a bunch of different recipes. I came up with this recipe which combines my love for asian inspired food but with a healthy twist!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb ground turkey (you can use any ground beef you like)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup onion, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

About a 1-inch piece of ginger, diced

5 tablespoons of hoisin sauce (found in the asian isle in the grocery store, it is like an asian BBQ sauce)

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

Bibb Lettuce (Boston Lettuce also works wonderfully)

Toppings:

(feel free to use whatever you like)

Shredded carrots

Roughly chopped peanuts

Toasted sesame seeds

Chopped green onions

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium pan. Add the ground turkey (or whatever meat you are using) and cook until no longer pink, breaking apart with the back of a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Scoop out and set aside on a separate plate. 

In the same pan, cook the onions, garlic and ginger for 3-4 minutes. Add the meat back into the pan with the onions, garlic and ginger.

Stir in the hoisin sauce and soy sauce and cook everything together for a few minutes

To serve, place the meat mixture in a lettuce cup and top with your favorite toppings.

Makes 10 lettuce wraps!

Chinese Chicken Salad with Crispy Wonton Strips

So, I recently bought Chrissy Teigen's cookbook (I love her) and was casually flipping through it when I found a recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad. To be honest I only stopped on this recipe because the picture caught my eye. The thing is I am not a fan of cabbage so I'm not really sure why I decided to try this recipe, but I gave it a shot and I absolutely loved it. I ate it for 3 days straight. I've made it several times since and made some of my own tweaks to make it slightly easier to make. So here it is!

For the dressing:

1/3 cup peanut or vegetable oil

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Chinese hot mustard (I used spicy brown mustard, it was easier to find)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sriracha

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon honey

3 cloves garlic (peeled)

½ teaspoon kosher salt.

Add all dressing ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth. 

For the wonton skins: 

(this step is completely optional, in most grocery stores you can find the crispy wonton's already made for you. In my grocery store they are in a bag in the produce section)

3 (8-inch) square wonton wrappers or 6 (4-inch) square wrappers (I used the small ones)

Vegetable or canola oil for frying

Kosher salt

Stack the wonton wrappers on top of each other. Cut the wrappers into ½ inch wide strips. (if you get the large wrappers cut the wrappers in half vertically first). In a medium sauce pan heat about 3-inches of oil over medium high heat. Working in batches drop a handful of the wonton strips in the oil and fry until puffed and golden about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried strips to paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt. Repeat until done.

 For the salad:

½ rotisserie chicken

½ medium head Napa cabbage, cut into ½-inch slices

1 cup shredded red cabbage

1 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

1 small carrot shredded

½ cup thinly sliced red onion

4 scallions, thinly sliced

Remove skin from chicken and discard. Shred the chicken into thin pieces (around 3 cups of the chicken when shredded). Place chicken, cabbages, carrot, red onion, cilantro and scallions in a medium sized bowl. Pour ½ cup of dressing over salad and toss to coat. Top with the wonton strips and serve remaining dressing on side.