Grilled Thai Chicken and Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Thai Lime Dressing

    The chicken lettuce wrap recipe was a great find in The Big Book of Chicken by Maryana Vollstedt. I was looking through the book trying to find some inspiration for a meal, and I came across this one! We always love chicken lettuce wraps at restaurants, and I thought it would be so fun to be able to make them at home. I decided to make this the inspiration for the rest of the meal. For the main course I went with another chicken dish because, well, I had The Big Book of Chicken in front of me. In retrospect I maybe would have chosen something like fish or shrimp, just to mix things up a bit. I found the Thai Lime Dressing as I was looking through my new favorite book, Salad Dressings by Jessica Strand. So many exciting salad dressings to try, and they don’t have to be actually eaten on lettuce! Like tonight, for example, I made the Thai Lime dressing and we used it as a dipping sauce for the Chicken Lettuce Wraps and sprinkled it over the roasted broccoli we had! (see my Pilot Post for directions on making the roasted broccoli).

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 ¼ lbs ground chicken
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
6 green onions including some tender green tops, finely chopped
2 oz. mushrooms, finely chopped
1 Tbsp peeled, grated fresh ginger or 1 tsp ground ginger
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 can (5 oz) water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped (the original recipe actually calls for a 15 oz. can but, oh man, that seems like way too many water chestnuts to me! 5 oz. was definitely sufficient. Feel free to do the whole 15 if you want)
½ cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne
8 large leaves iceberg lettuce, chilled

Directions:
In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the chicken and celery and sauté for 2 minutes, breaking up the chicken as you stir. Add the onions, mushrooms, ginger, and garlic and sauté for another 5 minutes, then add the water chestnuts, soy sauce, sugar, and cayenne. Simmer until the soy sauce has evaporated, about 5 minutes longer.
To serve, spoon the mixture onto the lettuce leaves, roll up, and eat in hand.
Makes 4 servings.

Grilled Thai Chicken

Ingredients:

2 Shallots, cut up

2 garlic cloves, cut up

3-4 sprigs fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

2-3 Tbsp chopped fresh lemongrass (or 1 tsp lemon zest)

¼ cup soy sauce, divided
6-8 boned, skinned chicken thighs (about 1 ½ lbs)

Directions:
To make the topping, place all ingredients, except chicken and 2 Tbsp soy sauce, into a food processor. Process until chunky. Put remaining 2 Tbsp soy sauce into a 7x11 inch pan and add chicken. Turn chicken over to coat thoroughly, then cover and marinate in fridge for several hours. (I actually only marinated mine for about half an hour and it was totally fine).
When chicken is ready to be cooked, prepare a grill with medium indirect heat. Place chicken on a sprayed or oiled grate and grill for 10 minutes, then spread on the topping and cook about 10 minutes longer (until a thermometer in the center of a breast registers 180°).
Makes 4 servings

Thai Lime Dressing

Ingredients:
Juice of 4-5 limes
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp fish sauce
1 ½ Tbsp sugar
1 serrano chile, stemmed, halved, seeded, and chopped finely
2 Tbsp minced fresh mint

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Serve over anything! Roasted vegetables, grilled chicken, it’s all yummy. Keeps in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.