Asian Lettuce Wraps

Alrighty...umm...lets not discuss my lengthy hiatus! Dinner was on the table, but sometimes it was nothing new and exciting that was worthy of sharing...or sometimes I just plain forgot to take a picture and then find the time to come and post!

However, during a little bit of a hot spell here last week I came across a wonderfully tasty, quick to get on the table, easy to make and fun to eat dinner.

Do give this a try if you think it might be something your family will enjoy.

Ingredients:

- 16 Lettuce Leaves (boston bibb, butter or iceberg)
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- Asian chile pepper sauce (sriacha, optional)
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled, julienned
- 1 cucumber, julienned
- Rice Stick noodles
- Asian sesame salad dressing (we used Kraft)

Directions:

1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not to tear them. Set aside (If using iceberg lettuce, you may wish to remove more of the core and cut the leaves in half).

2. Cook rice noodles according to directions, rinse in cold water, set aside.

3. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reduce the heat to medium. If necessary, drain and return to pan. Add in onion and garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar and chile sauce (if using). Continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt.

4. Arrange lettuce leaves, carrot, cucumber, noodles and green onions and meat on a large platter. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf and top with their choice of items and add a drizzle of salad dressing. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito and enjoy!

Mexican Chicken

And so with the return of the work week comes the return of crockpot cooking! Tonight we dined on chicken quesadillas, which could easily have been chicken wraps, or chicken rice bowls. I made the filling in the crockpot and then put the filling between tortillas, added a little bit of extra cheese and put them in the quesadilla maker. Or in my case, my George Foreman grill with the quesadilla plates on! The end result was a very tasty quesadilla that took relatively no time to put together and is somewhat healthy! Or at least it would have been if my grocery store wouldn't have been sold out of our usual whole wheat, high fibre tortillas. Excellent with a side of fresh fruit and some steamed veggies (not pictured!).

Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:

- 2 cans Black Beans (I used one 19 oz. can, drained)

- 2 cans Whole Kernel Corn

- 1 jar Salsa Of Choice (I used about 1 1/2 cups)

- 3 pieces Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast or chicken thighs or a mix of both

- 1 block light cream cheese (softened)

Directions:

- Mix the black beans, corn, and salsa together in the bottom of the crockpot – then place the chicken on top.

- Turn your crockpot on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours and walk away!!

- Before serving take the chicken out of the crockpot and shred with a fork (it’ll be nice and tender and juicy!!)

- Add in the block of cream cheese and let the mixture melt together a bit while you shred the chicken.

- Put the chicken back in the crockpot and mix it all up.

- Serve on top of salad, a bowl of rice or wrap in a tortilla - whatever sounds most appealling to you!

Terriyaki Salmon

Every once in a blue moon my husband gets a craving for fish and this week happened to be one of those weeks. I opted for salmon while shopping for groceries and perused the internets for a quick weeknight recipe that appealed to our tastebuds. I made this tonight and it was fantastic. It uses pantry ingredients for the sauce, and goes great alongside some rice and roasted asparagus. Try it sometime!

Terriyaki Salmon

Ingredients:

• 4 Salmon Fillets
• ¼ Tablespoons Green Onions, Slivered

Sauce:
• 1/3 cups Soy Sauce
• 1/3 cups brown Sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/3 cups Water
• 2 teaspoons Cornstarch

Instructions:

Heat grill on high heat. Spray grill with non-stick spray and cook salmon for 5 minutes. Turn salmon fillets over and cook for another 4-6 minutes until salmon is cooked through. Drizzle teriyaki sauce (see below) over salmon to your liking. Top off with green onion slivers. Enjoy!

Teriyaki Sauce:

In a medium pan add all the ingredients except water and corn starch. In a small cup, dissolve corn starch and water before adding to the sauce pan. Cook sauce on medium heat for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring. Serve immediately and store any leftovers in the refrigerator for future use.

I cooked our fillets on the our George Foreman grill while the sauce was thickening on the stove., the rice was in the rice cooker and the asparagus was in the oven.

This was a very elegant dinner for a worknight and we rated it an 8.5/10 based on taste and ease of preparation.

Korean Ribs

I found this recipe on http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ and took a risk on making it for dinner one night when my mother was coming over. I generally don't use anyone but my husband as a guinea pig for new recipes, but I guess if anyone would give me constructive criticism, it would be my mother! Thankfully, this recipe was fantastic and no criticism could be given. I made a few minor changes to the original recipe, but it is still a super easy, super tasty recipes. And one of those recipes that make you thankful for the crock pot. Nothing beats walking into the house thinking someone else made dinner! Sadly, I have no photos...but this is definitely a make again recipes so perhaps next time!

Korean Ribs

Ingredients:

- Pork back ribs (or beef short ribs)

- 1 cup soy sauce (I recommend the low sodium kind as the flavour can be quite strong)

- ¾ to 1 cup brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)

- 5 whole jalapeno peppers (they do not make it spicy at all, just add a nice smoky flavour. They only make it spicy if they break apart, so I keep mine close to the top so they don’t get too much heat and disintegrate)

- 1/2 cup water

- 3 cloves garlic, crushed

- 1 tsp. fresh ginger (use less if using powdered)

- Toasted sesame seeds (either throw in the pot or use for garnish afterwards)


Directions:

- Put the ribs and the jalapenos in the crock pot;
- Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, water and spices together;
- Pour over ribs;
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (you could probably do 10 no problem, the meat will just definitely fall off the bone);
- When you get home, pull out the jalapenos and turn the ribs over to get both sides coated with sauce.

My mother despises anything remotely spicy, and although she advised that she could "taste the jalapeno" all you can taste is the smoky flavour. I fed this to my 13 month old and he gobbled it up with no hesitation, as did me and Hubs. In fact, its only been a week but I can't wait to make these again!

Let's Get this Show on the Road...

Alrighty...well...after a terribly lengthy hiatus, I'm going to get this show on the road once more. With a full-time job, a full-time husband and and super cute toddler at home, I find myself testing out new recipes on a frequent basis in order to find quick, easy and most importantly, palate pleasing recipes! Thankfully, I've stock piled a few good recipes as of late, and unfortunately I have no good excuse for the lack of pictures, but for now you will have to be pleased with the provision of recipes!

Pork Tenderloin w/ Sticky Lime Glaze

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup sodium reduced soy-sauce
- 1/2 cup liquid honey
- 2 tsp. grated lime rind (I didn't have, so I didn't use this)
- 3 tbsp. lime juice
- 1 small onion
- 2 tbsp. minced gingerroot
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 2 pork tenderloins (I only had 1, it was just extra glazed!)
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

- In large glass bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, lime rind, lime juice, onion, ginger, garlic and pepper. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Drain pork, reserving marinade. In large ovenproof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; brown pork. Pour in marinade and bring to boil, boil for 1 minute.
- Roast in 400 degree oven until juices run clear when pork is pierced and just a hunt of pink remains inside, about 18 minutes. Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil; let stand for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with sauce.

I served this with rice and steamed green beans.

If you are ever in need of a quick, easy & very tasty dish, I highly recommend this Shrimp Scampi recipe. The recipe is initially found at Epicurious, and I made a few minor changes.

It comes together in basically no time at all, and is good enough that you could comfortably prepare this for company to rave reviews.

Special thanks to my almost-mother-in-law for the excellent choice of wine that was leftover from a previous family get together. It really was a great addition to the recipe, and I'm sure the better the wine, the better the dish.

I can't say enough good things about this recipe. It isn't often you find a company worthy dish that you can literally prepare in 15 minutes.

The original recipe calls for the dish to be served with angel hair pasta, but I substituted brown rice for the pasta. I think it would be great with pasta, and maybe some diced tomatoes in the sauce as well.

Without further adieu, here is the recipe, as I made it. The main additions I made were to add in a splash of lemon juice, and a little bit of basil.

SHRIMP SCAMPI

Buttery and lush with garlic, this dish, though simple to prepare, feels indulgent.

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp (raw; 20 to 25 per lb)

5 large garlic cloves, left unpeeled and forced through a garlic press

1/2 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes.

1/2 cup dry white wine

Juice of 1/4 lemon

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons butter/margarine (I used light becel)

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 teaspoon basil

Meanwhile, heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Add garlic to oil in skillet along with red pepper flakes, wine, lemon juice, basil, salt, and pepper and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Add butter to skillet, along with some parsley, stirring until melted, and stir in shrimp. Add in parsley. Allow shrimp to cook over low heat for 5-6 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining parsley.

Makes 4 servings.

How a Ukrainian uses a crock pot...

This is what happens when you buy a roast that is too big to fit in your crock pot with the lid on. Thankfully, creativity in the kitchen is always encouraged!