Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Hey y'all,

So my friend, Becky, gave me Chrissy Teigen's cookbook "Cravings" last year for my birthday and it is filled with all things good in the world, including these bomb lettuce wraps. As much as I like to add a twist to recipes that I find, I didn't even make any changes to this one because Chrissy is a goddess and I think you should have access to it in it's purest form. I also don't consider this a recipe where lettuce is substituted for carbs (so don't roll your eyes at it) because I can't think of anything I'd prefer to wrap this goodness in. It's crunchy and fresh and it belongs here. If you don't eat meat, I would recommend extra mushrooms and maybe adding some diced up zucchini and/or carrots? Whatever you do, don't leave out the water chestnuts because they are very necessary. Also you should probably buy this cookbook because it's informative and hilarious.

Serves: 4-6

Total time: 30 minutes

For the sauce (most ingredients can be found in the Asian food section of your grocery store):

3 tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp sriracha (unless you would prefer it without a kick, in which case, use less or none)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp sesame oil 

1.5 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (or minced really tiny)

For the filling:

1 lb ground chicken (or turkey)

3 tbsp vegetable oil

8 scallions, thinly sliced, whites and greens kept separate

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (or minced really tiny)

8oz mushrooms, finely chopped

1/2 finely chopped canned water chestnuts (I found these in the Asian food section of my regular grocery store)

1 small red bell pepper, finely diced

2 heads butter lettuce leaves (I used romaine, Chrissy uses butter)

Directions:

1) In a bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and stir or whisk well

2) Mix 2 tbsp of sauce into the ground chicken 

3) In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil over med-high heat

4) Add chicken and cook until until browned, breaking it up while it cooks, transfer meat to a bowl

5) Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to the hot skillet, then add scallion whites, garlic and ginger, cook for 1 minute

6) Add mushrooms and cook 3-4 minutes

7) Return chicken to pan, then add water chestnuts, bell pepper and the rest of the sauce, cook 3-4 more minutes until bell peppers are tender and liquid has reduced and thickened slightly

8) Stir in scallion greens

Serve warm with lettuce leaves for wrapping.

** If you're using only veggies, obv skip the meat steps and cook the zucchini/carrots with the mushrooms before adding the sauce, water chestnuts and bell pepper

Here's how mine turned out!