Manic Mondays

So I finally got around to making the Thai lettuce wraps tonight. Even though its not exactly a quick fix, it didnt take all that long. There's plenty of leftover sauce and can make for a quick meal again later in the week. Alot of the prep work can be done in advance and the sauces can be ahead of time as well. This recipe contains chicken, but it can easily be substituted with tofu or shrimp.

Start by making the dressing.

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar as I was out of rice wine vinegar.)
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp hot mustard (I used spicy brown mustard)
2 tbsp hot water

Dissolve the sugar in the 1/2 water in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until ready to serve.
Combine the 2 tbsp hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside. You will combine this with the sauce above before serving.

Next you will need:

3 tbsp Olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnuts (I left this ingredient out because I despise the nasty little things!)
2/3 cup mushrooms
1 small onion diced
1 tsp minced garlic (1 large clove)
5-6 large leaves of lettuce (You can use Iceberg, Bib lettuce or Boston lettuce)

Place 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, place chicken in the frying pan. Saute for 4-5 minutes per side or until done. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
While the chicken is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Mince the water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of a pea. (This can be done quickly in a food processor, but be careful not to over process. And do them all separately.)
As the chicken cools, prepare the stir fry sauce.

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar (again, I used white wine vinegar)

Combine the above ingredients.

Add 1 tbsp of oil to the frying pan used to cook the chicken and warm over medium heat. add mushrooms, water chestnuts and onions. Let the items cook down for about 3-5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic after a minute or two.
While these items are cooking, dice the chicken breast into pea-sized pieces. Add the chicken and the stir fry sauce to the pan. Turn up the heat to medium-high and cook for a minute or two, just enough to thicken the sauce a little.

To serve, place a lettuce leaf on a place so that its like a cup. Scoop desired about of chicken mixture on to the cup, drizzle with some dressing, fold over the edge of the lettuce to secure the contents and enjoy!