Lettuce is the new tortilla...

Over the weekend I decided to switch gears from southern cooking to a little something with Asian flare. Sunday night I had the craving for Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, so I decided to test my cooking abilities and make them myself. After searching a couple of different sites, I found a great recipe on the Food Network under Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals. Next thing I know, Mango and I are running up and down the supermarket aisles trying to find all of the ingredients. The recipe requires a lot of fresh veggies like peppers, cucumbers, and garlic, not to mention, we got to visit our favorite aisle, the ethnic food aisle. If you haven't taken a good look at what's in this aisle, check it our next time you are in the supermarket. That's were we found our recipe essentials like plum sauce, and the not to nice smelling, fish sauce. All in all, it came out really yummy, the only annoying part of the prep-time was peeling off the flaky part of the garlic. This was perfect for a relaxing Sunday night dinner, however, there is a warning: these are very messy (so have plenty of napkins) and you will smell like garlic afterwards! Enjoy!

Recipe: Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Source: Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals

1 pound thin cut chicken breast meat, available packaged in meat case of market Grill

Seasoning (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan

2 tablespoons minced ginger root

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and very thinly sliced

1 cup packaged shredded cabbage and carrot mix

3 scallions, chopped on an angle

1/2 cup plum sauce

2 cups basil leaves, loosely packed

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cut into half again

1/2 seedless cucumber, chopped

Thinly slice the chicken into strips and sprinkle with grill seasoning.
Heat a large skillet to screaming hot. Add vegetable oil, then chicken. Cook chicken 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the ginger, garlic, peppers, cabbage and carrot mix and scallions and stir-fry another 2 minutes. Add plum sauce to glaze the mixture, toss 1 minute, then add basil and wilt leaves. Add fish sauce and turn to coat. Transfer cooked chicken and vegetables to a bowl. Place spoonfuls of chicken into a piece of lettuce with cucumber and fold lettuce over to eat, like small tacos.