Wrap It Up

I have this fear that to be the size I wish to be I can never eat anything I crave again. This fear often leads to derailment within the first few hours of any new diet, if I have nothing delicious to look forward to I might as well order the pizza and be happy is pretty much the theory I have operated under.
This time I want to make things different. I am not only trying to make low fat/low carb meals but I am going to make them delicious. This brings me to the second diet downfall. . . over complication. So plan two is to plan ahead and make meals that can serve multiple purposes.
All of this brings us to tonight's dinner: Lettuce Wraps with Chicken.
This year I have been spending a good amount of time exploring Asian cuisines and these hand-held delights come from China and are well worth the chopping involved. Even better they are perfectly delicious eaten cold for a quick lunch or you can add the chicken mixture to greens, broccoli slaw, cucumbers and tomatoes and throw on some light Asian dressing for a delicious and surprisingly filling Chinese Chop Salad.

Lettuce Wraps with Chinese Chicken
1 lb ground white meat chicken
3-6 dried Shiitaki mushrooms depending on size
8 water chestnuts, drained
3 scallions + l for garnish
4 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp cornstarch
1⁄2 tsp sugar
3 clove of garlic
1 tbs sesame oil

iceberg lettuce
Asian style sweet hot chili sauce

Soak mushrooms in warm water until they become pliable, remove the stems. Finely chop mushrooms, chestnuts and the white and pale green part of the scallions mix with the ground chicken. In a small separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Once the cornstarch is fully incorporated mix the sauce with the chicken and allow to marinate for 15 minutes or longer.
Finely chop garlic. Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pan or wok. When the oil is hot add the garlic and cook for a few seconds. Before the garlic begins to burn and the chicken mixture. Cook over high heat stirring often to break mixture up for 3 to 5 minutes.
serve over individual iceberg lettuce leaves, garnish with scallion greens and serve with chili sauce.

Adapted from Chinese Minced Chicken Wraps by rasamalaysia.com