Asian Lettuce Wraps

Not many of you know this but City Belle is 1/4 Japanese.  Her Mother was born in Tokyo and her Grandmother was Japanese.  When visiting, my Mother-in-law would make home-made Japanese food with beef, homemade shrimp sauce and rice, I mean the works y'all!  It was the bomb!  Well I got to thinkin'....I better learn how to make some good ol' homemade Asian food if I'm gonna keep my City Belle around! 

Boston lettuce wraps are the trick, low carb and delicious.  Iceburg lettuce will NOT suffice.  Also, I drizzle lime juice, EVOO, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper on them after separation from the bunch while the chicken is in the oven. 

 City Belle likes fresh cilantro, I think it smells like soap and tastes like it, but I still chop her a lil' bowl so she can get it easily.  Sesame seeds are crucial, they are the small thing that makes a BIG difference.  I dice up some lime wedges to squeeze on top of the wraps at the end.  Also, in the back is a peanut sauce I'll discuss later. 

 Ingredients:

• baked chicken
• diced carrots
• sliced cucumbers
• lemon and lime zest and juice
• thinly sliced red cabbage
• EVOO
• Kosher salt 
• fresh cracked pepper
• diced garlic 
• a dollop of honey
• balsamic vinegar
• Asian rice wine vinegar 
• cilantro
• sesame seeds and almonds
• Boston lettuce

Oven in the chicken...wait???Huh? OK, I throw the book at the chicken b/c it's so bland. Initially I pan sear both sides of the chicken strips to lock in the flavor before placing in the oven.  I have a mixed dry poultry seasoning, lemon zest and juice, EVOO, diced garlic, kosher salt, garlic salt, fresh cracked pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.  Yep, that's it!  Heck, you could put that on bologna and it'd be good! Ha, just kidding.

 

I love cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in my food....

This is an easy recipe once you....ok this is really hard to do but who cares?!?! You can do it, it's just a lot of ingredients.  If this ol' Country Boy can do it, anybody can!

City Belle likes it with the works!  I mean the Lady has flavor coming out the ying yang on her wraps.  So listen up here goes the final recipe, ya hear?!?  

That brown sauce you see on top is a peanut satay sauce.  It's a homemade peanut butter and soy sauce mix. We use JIF extra crunchy for the nuts, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  WTH?  Yeah, I know, by itself it seems gross, but once you incorporate all the other flavors it's delicious.  You get an EXPLOSION of flavor!  See the best thing about doing an Asian dish is being able to use so many diverse ingredients.  The 1st time you make them they probably won't be as good as mine, (ha ha just kidding) but you should still go for it!!  Just don't burn the chicken while you're prepping the sides, or forgot to add the sesame seeds.  

Every time I make these wraps they taste better.  All you need to do is take the 1st step. Try it. What's the worst that could happen? 

until next time, 

Country Boy