Turkey Lettuce Wraps

PJ Chang's Lettuce wraps have always been something I've enjoyed.  I've been trying to find a suitable replacment for home.  This is the best I've found yet.  Easy.  Healthy. Quick.  My non-mushroom eating husband even loved them (I chopped the mushrooms up into oblivion!)

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Source:  Food Network.Com

Ingredients

Filling:

• 12 ounces ground turkey
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, chopped
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• One 6-ounce can water chestnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Drizzling Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or spicy mustard
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 8 to 12 large iceberg lettuce leaves, cleaned and dry
• Shredded carrots, for serving
• Bean sprouts, for serving
• Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving

Directions

For the filling: Brown the turkey in the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Add the mushrooms, scallions, garlic and water chestnuts, and cook until the mushrooms soften. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar and vinegar, pour over the turkey mixture and cook 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

For the drizzling sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, mustard, Sriracha, sesame oil and 1/4 cup water.

Serve the turkey mixture with the lettuce leaves, drizzling sauce and vegetables for lettuce wrap assembly.

Spinach & Three-Cheese Calzones

It's been a long time! I wanted to make sure I had this recipe saved because I liked it! It served as a quick dinner & great leftovers for lunch. Anything to get the boys around here to eat spinach!

Spinach and Three-Cheese Calzones

Source: Parenting Magazine

Preheat oven to 425, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Thaw a 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach and squeeze out as much water as possible.

In a medium bowl, mix the spinach with 1 cup part-skim ricotta, 1 cup shredded fontina, 1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, and pepper to taste.

Slice a 13.8 8oz tube refrigerated pizza dough into 6 equal pieces. Shape into balls, and stretch or roll out on a lightly floured surface to roughly 5-inch circles. Arrange 3 circles on each baking sheet.

Divide the spinach mixtures into 6 equal portions, and spread on one side of each circle, leaving a 1/2 inch border, then fold the dough over the filling. Pinch and crimp the edges to seal. Cut a 1 inch vent in each, and bake until golden, about 14 minutes.

Serve with marinara for dipping.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

It's been TOO long since I've added to the blog. I had a hankering for some lettuce wraps this week ~ I dug around for recipes and settled on this one. It was worth posting. I will definitely make this again. Easy, healthy & delicious!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Source: Recipegirl.com

Ingredients

1 TBSP canola or vegetable oil (we used sesame)

1 medium shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBSP minced fresh ginger

1 LB ground turkey or pork

1 can water chesnuts - rinsed & chopped (this was an addition)

2 TBSP soy sauce

1/4 bottled chili sauce

1 tsp fish sauce (I omitted - didn't have it on hand)

1 tsp granulated sugar

1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

1 head butter or Boston lettuce, separated

Directions

1. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet. Stir fry shallots in hot oil for several minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the ground meat and separate for even cooking. Stir in soy sauce, chili sauce, fish sauce and sugar.

2. Cook until meat is brown and crumbly and the liquid is reduced, stirring frequently. Stir in cilantro. Spoon the meat mixture into a serving bowl. Mix in the peanuts.

3. Self serve: Spoon meat mixture onto a lettuce leaf and roll tightly.

1/3 cup minced peanuts

Simple Sesame Noodles

Thanks to my friend Jennifer for sharing this recipe! A nice easy side side or can be made into the main meal by eating some extra veggies and/or chicken/shrimp. We had it with some grilled pork chops and green beans. This was super easy to make!

Simple Sesame Noodles

Ingredients
12 ounces, fluid Thin Noodles, Cooked And Drained ( I used Udon noodles - I'd probably just use multi grain spaghetti next time)
¼ cups Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Sugar
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Pure Sesame Oil
½ teaspoons Hot Chili Oil
4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
2 Tablespoons Hot Water
4 whole Green Onions, Sliced Thin

Directions
Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.
Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.
Sprinkle with green onions and toss.

Bay View Cream Biscuits

A girls trip to a lovely bed & breakfast in Portsmouth, NH led me to this great versatile recipe. And it's SO easy to make... I've used it for breakfast with jelly, strawberry shortcakes or dinner rolls. Each time it fit the bill. And everytime I've made it I have great memories of a great weekend with the girls!

Bay View Cream Biscuits
Source: Portsmouth Harbor Inn & Spa

Ingredients
2C flour
1 Tbs baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1.5 C heavy cream

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425F
Combine the dry ingredients with a fork. Slowly add the cream stirring constanly. Gather the dough together – if it seems dry add a little more cream.

Place the dough on a lightly floured board and knead 4-5 times. Pat the dough into rectangle that is about 1 inch thick. Cut into 12 pieces and place on baking sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes until the tops are lightly browned.
ENJOY

Buffalo Chicken & Dip

Another Rachel Ray ~~ True confession on this project this evening - I accidently knocked 1/2 a sauce pan off of the stove & STILL finished this meal in 30 minutes or less... including clean up!! Beat that Rachel! Never mind the smell of hotsauce bound to fill our home for .... hmmm, days.

So - this quick little number served it's purpose of something good & easy. I served with some frozen fries. Could probably also be used as the chicken for a buffalo chicken salad.

Ingredients:
1 lb, skinless, boneless chicken breat, cut into 4 by 12 inch strips
Salt and pepper
4 TBSP butter
5 TBSP hot pepper sauce, I used Frank's Red Hot
1 TBSP white wine or cider vinegar

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 oz. blue cheese, about 1/4 cup ( I just threw in come crumbles)

Preheat broiler. Season chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the hot pepper sauce and vinegar. On a broiler pan or baking sheet, toss the chicken strips with half the hot sauce mixture. Broil the chicken, turning once, until tender and just golden. I did 5 minutes on each side - Rachel recommends 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour the remaining sauce over the chicken; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream and worcestershire sauce. I used light versions of mayo & sour cream. Stir in the blue cheese.

Serve with chicken & celery sticks.