Ginger Chicken Stir Fry Romaine Wraps with Citrus Soy Dipping Sauce

Asian food is one of my favorites and this is a great way to enjoy it. These wraps are healthy and delicious!

First, dice the chicken into tiny pieces. Combine 2 T soy sauce, oil, ginger, garlic, and chili flakes. Mix together and pour over chicken. Refrigerate at least 2-4 hours.

Mix together the citrus juices, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce.  Chop scallions into rings and clean lettuce, chopping off the stem so each piece creates a little "boat" shape.

Next, saute the chicken at medium high heat until crispy and golden brown.

You want crispy bits in the bottom of your pan. Make sure your pan is hot enough so the marinade just about evaporates.

Add half of the citrus soy sauce to the pan. Toss to coat the chicken and cook until it forms a thickened glaze on the chicken.

Place cooked chicken in a bowl, and serve with the romaine, chopped scallions, and dipping sauce.

Next, assemble your wraps by placing a little of the chicken, scallions, and sauce into each romaine "boat".

Dip in additional sauce if desired and enjoy!

These wraps are great hot or cold and the leftovers make a great salad too.

Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry Romaine Wraps with Citrus Soy Dipping Sauce

Adapted from the original recipe courtesy of P. F. Chang's China Bistro

1 lb chicken

3 T fresh ginger, minced

1 T garlic, minced

½ t dry chili flakes

1 T olive oil

2 T soy sauce

2 heads romaine lettuce, cleaned

½ c fresh orange juice

2 T fresh lemon juice

¼ c soy sauce

1 T hoisin sauce

3 scallions, sliced thin

Dice the chicken into tiny pieces. Place the chicken in a mixing bowl and add 1 tablespoon olive oil, ginger, garlic, chili flakes and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Mix together in circular motion until well mixed. Let marinate in refrigerator for 2-4 hours.

Mix together the citrus juices, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce with a whisk. Reserve until needed. Clean the romaine lettuce, chopping off the stem, peeling each ‘spear’ and running under clean cold water. Reserve in refrigerator until ready to use. Chop scallions into rings and reserve chilled.

Coat a very hot sauté pan lightly with olive oil. Lay the chicken around the sauté pan being careful not to lay too many on top of each other. Sear the chicken until crispy and golden brown, about 2 ½ minutes. Once chicken is brown, toss gently in pan and sear another 2 ½ minutes. The pan will appear to “burn”, but that is the carmelization and where all the flavor comes from. Add ½ of the citrus soy mixture to the sauté pan and coat well. Let the sauce coat the chicken until it is glazed, and thickens on the chicken. Add more or less depending on how “wet” you want your mixture. Spoon chicken onto a plate.

Wrap the chicken mixture in romaine lettuce and top with scallion rings. Serve and enjoy!

The original recipe called for 3 T of soy bean oil. I substituted olive oil and only used 1 T of oil. I did not note any missing flavor as a result.

The easiest way I have found to finely chop fresh ginger is to use my garlic press. If you have another method you love, let me know!

Bananas Foster French Toast

Think caramely-bananas covering crispy-soft french toast. It's a marriage made in heaven if you ask me. Here's how it's done...

I like to measure and set out all of my ingredients before baking. The process goes a lot more quickly this way.

Nothing like slices of homemade bread. Even the ends are good in this since they absorb the milk mixture during baking.

Next, combine the rest of the french toast ingredients. I used almond milk since it is what I prefer, but you can use whatever kind you like.

Whisk together well.

If you don't want the bits of neufchatel like mine, use a hand or stand mixer blend.

Layer the slices of bread in a baking dish. Pour the milk mixture on top.

Bake at 350 for 35  minutes.

While the french toast is baking, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Once the butter is bubbly and completely melted, add the brown sugar.

Stir until combined.

Cook over heat until the sugar dissolves.

And the mixture darkens. Mmm, caramel! Add water.

Slice bananas diagonally. Because they're prettier that way.

Add bananas to caramel sauce.

Slowly. You don't want to splash yourself.

Stir to combine sauce and bananas.

Cook over medium heat until bananas are softened.

Like this.

I'm not obsessed with caramel.

Nope.

Not at all.

Serve over french toast.

Enjoy!

Bananas Foster French Toast

2 oz Neufchatel Cheese, softened (you can also use cream cheese)
2 T sugar
1 t vanilla
1 t ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup vanilla almond milk (if you use regular milk, increase sugar by 2 T)

sliced bread- enough for 2 layers in 8 x 8 baking dish (I used homemade whole wheat bread, but French bread or Challah would be great in this too)

2 bananas, sliced

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 T water

Combine neufchatel cheese, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, egg, and milk. Pour over bread and bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until crispy on top.

While french toast is baking, melt butter in pan. When bubbly, add brown sugar and cook until sugar is melted. Add water and stir to smooth. Stir in bananas and cook until soft. Serve over hot french toast.

Note: I used some healthier ingredients, like whole wheat bread, low fat neufchatel cheese, and almond milk. To me, this balanced out the sweetness and richness of this dish. But if you prefer challah, cream cheese, and regular milk or cream, I'm sure that would be good too!

Indochine Shrimp and Chicken

This is a dish similar to one I had at The Grand Lux Cafe downtown Chicago. It is an Indian Chinese fusion dish. At first glance, the ingredients seem a bit odd, but combine beautifully into a dish that is savory and spicy, with a hint of sweetness to balance it all.

First, saute the onions in a tablespoon of olive oil that has been heated on the stove. Preheating the oil keeps whatever you add to it from absorbing the oil and ensures a nice golden brown color.

Once you add the onions to the pan, let them cook for a minute or two before stirring.

 This way, you get the golden bits that add sweet caramelized flavor.

Remove the onions from the pan and set aside. Next, toss the chicken with the flour combined with coarse salt and pepper. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and preheat.

The chicken can now be sauteed the same way as the onions. Whatever you do, don't clean the pan between steps. We need all those delicious bits to add flavor!

Remove the cooked chicken from the pan. Add the broth to the pan and scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan. A fancier term for this is deglazing, and I like to feel fancy sometimes. Next, add one cup of heavy cream or half and half.

 ~At this point, I got so excited about finishing the dish (that or, I was interrupted by my dear sweet baby's bedtime- one of my favorite times of the day) that I became distracted and failed to record the next few steps with pictures, so you'll have to use your fabulous imagination.~

Add the jarred sauce and stir to combine. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a slow simmer to heat. Add additional curry powder and salt to taste.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

 Yeah, you know my portion was way bigger than this.

This is a great way to introduce yourself to curry, if you haven't tried cooking with it already. You can use a little or a lot, depending on how spicy you like it.

INDOCHINE SHRIMP AND CHICKEN
Serves four to six

2 T olive oil
1 pound chicken breast, skin and bones removed, cut into 2-inch pieces
Salt and black pepper
1/4 c all-purpose flour
2 onions, chopped
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 fluid ounces sweet wine or chicken broth
1 (8-ounce) jar coconut-curry sauce
1 cup cream or half and half
1 1/2 ounces fresh ginger, sliced into very thin strips, optional
1/2 cup each dried cranberries, golden raisins, and chopped apricots
curry powder
3-4 cups steamed white rice

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
Add the onions into the pan and cook until the onions have become lightly caramelized.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Add remaining tablespoon oil to pan.
While the oil is heating, combine the flour, salt and pepper and toss with the chicken.
Add the chicken into the pan and cook until lightly browned on all sides and cooked halfway through.
Add the shrimp to the pan and cook until the shrimp and chicken are done. (If you are using pre-cooked shrimp, cook chicken all the way through and then add shrimp and toss to heat.)
Remove from pan and set aside.
Deglaze the pan with the sweet wine.
Add the cream, coconut-curry cream sauce, and remaining ingredients. Continue to cook until the sauce becomes lightly thickened.
Serve over rice.