Dinner obsession satisfied with new chicken wraps
I know it's time to hit the test kitchen to develop a new recipe when I find myself obsessed with one dish. Lately, it's been chicken lettuce wraps, which are found on numerous Asian restaurants' appetizer menus and shared among friends. But I've been ordering the sweetly hot and perfectly textured treats for dinner and not sharing even one.
Recently, I walked into one of my favorite Chinese restaurants here in Wilmington, N.C., and the owner said, “Ah, lettuce wraps,” as soon as she saw me. That's when I knew I had to master them at home.
It turns out they are unbelievably easy to make. They remind me of the chopped meat skillet meals I was the queen of back in the “feed the hungry family of four fast” days of Desperation Dinners. Even though those days are long gone, I still sized the portion for four because they make great leftovers if your family is smaller. And if you need to feed a larger crowd, it doubles just as easily.
Now that I have my own recipe that takes less than 20 minutes to make, I can move on to the other delicacies at my favorite restaurants. At least until another obsession occurs ...
Suggested menu: Chicken Lettuce Wraps with sliced fresh fruit and purchased fortune cookies (for fun!)
• Write to Alicia Ross at Kitchen Scoop, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106 or tellus@kitchenscoop.com. More at the Kitchen Scoop website, kitchenscoop.com.