Turkey Lettuce Wraps ala P.F. Chang's

Someone mentioned P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps the other day and they've been on mind ever since. Cue walking into the grocery today and seeing iceberg lettuce on sale...the rest is history. Yep, we just ate YUMMY and HEALTHY lettuce wraps for dinner!

I combined several different recipe versions I found online.

20 min prep time

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

1 head iceberg lettuce, separated and washed
1 lb lean ground turkey, browned (could sub chicken, beef or tofu)
1 Tbsp olive oil (x2)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp hot chili sauce
2 tsp dark sesame oil

Brown ground turkey over medium-high heat in 1 Tbsp olive oil. Set aside.

In same pan, saute chopped onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil.

After a few minutes, add garlic, ginger, water chestnuts, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine venigar, chili sauce and sesame oil. Mix well.

Add the meat back into the pan with green onions.

Serve with whole lettuce leaves and wrap like a burrito to eat.

I didn't make the sauce today because we were too hungry, but I think I will try it next time.

Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp ketchup
1 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp hot mustard
2 tsp water
1 -2 tsp hot chile sauce

Guilt-Free Brownies

I've been in the mood for brownies for a few weeks. We all know that having dinner guests is the best excuse to add dessert to the menu!

With this week's massive egg recall, I just can't stomach the idea of eggs this week (even though mine are theoretically okay). So, I decided to make a batch of black bean brownies I've made once before.

No Eggs.
No Oil.
Just add black beans.

I don't know how it works, but it makes a wonderfully fudgy brownie. The beans are undetectable...just don't tell anyone!

How to make them:
1) Drain and rinse one can of black beans. Put the beans back in the can and fill to the top with fresh water. Dump this into a blender and puree for a few minutes until well blended. This is what it will look like when blended. No sign of the beans!


2) Add any boxed brownie mix and stir until combined. Toss in a handful of chocolate chips if you're worried about little bean skins giving away your secret!

3) Pour into a prepared 9x13" baking dish and bake according to package directions. Take care to not over-cook.

4) Eat! These are fudgy, so if you like a dry cake-like brownie, these probably aren't for you.

I do have to say that these passed the kid test for 2 and 4 years old! Hidden fiber!

Cut into 24 squares and there is less than 1 gram of fat per brownie.

Chicken Chiles Relleno

I typically shy away from 'creating' my own recipes, and usually go for the tried and true recipes of others. Today I was in the mood for Chiles Relleno and Stuffed Peppers and couldn't make up my mind....so I kind of combined the two. Come to find out, they're the SAME thing...one said in Spanish; the other said in English! My idea of a stuffed pepper is very much based on the way I've always made them (call it American). This is all beside the point. I think they came out really yummy, so here's the recipe! This recipe made enough for 6 - 8 people. You could halve it if you're only cooking for 2 or 3.

Chicken Chiles Relleno

6 peppers (poblano for spicy, bell for UNspicy)
2 cans chicken breast, shredded
2 cups cooked white rice (I made the rice ahead of time, so it was cold)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can green chiles
1/2 onion and 2 cloves garlic, sauteed in olive oil (I did this ahead of time, so it was cold)
8 oz pepper jack cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Cool.
In a large bowl, shred chicken breast with 2 forks. Add rice, beans, green chiles, sauteed onion and garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff filling into peppers that have been washed, dried, halved and cleared of seeds.
Place cheese on top of each pepper.
Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 for 35 - 40 minutes.
Remove foil and bake another 5ish minutes until cheese is golden.

I don't think it needed the sauce, but I also made this creamy tomato sauce for topping off the peppers:

1 28-oz can tomatoes
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 - 3 jalapenos
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
dash of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup cream or half and half

Puree the tomatoes, onion, garlic and jalapeno well.
Heat olive oil in saute/sauce pan. Cook puree for 10-15 minutes, so it turns from pink to red.
Add salt to taste, then add the cream and remove from heat.
I only had one jalapeno, so it wasn't very hot. Next time I'll use 3. That's why I added a dash of cayenne pepper.

I forgot to take a finished picture, but they look even yummier with the melted cheese on top!
This is a great recipe to make ahead and refrigerate overnight before popping into the oven.

Berry Galette a la Julia

I've always wanted to make a galette. Blackberry season is almost over here, so I went and picked a few quarts after my run this morning. I found a few different galette dough recipes, but I was particularly intrigued by this one by Julia Childs.

Galette Dough

3 tablespoons sour cream

1/3 cup ice water

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (cut into 6 or 8 pieces)

*Stir the sour cream and ice water together. Set aside.

*Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and sugar in a large bowl with a fork.
*Add cold butter pieces and combine with a pastry blender until the butter pieces are the size of bread crumbs to small peas.

*Add sour cream/water mixture 1 tablespoon at a time and toss with a fork to evenly distribute. *You'll end up with wet clumps of dough.

*Carefully combine into a ball without overworking.

*Divide ball in half and shape each half into a disc, wrapped in saran wrap. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

Berry Galette

1/2 Galette dough recipe

1 1/2 cups berries

1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp sugar

1 Tbsp butter

After the sour ceam/water was added, formed into a ball and divided in half.

Roll chilled dough out to about 11" (1/8" thick)

Carefully place dough onto a piece of parchment paper and place berries in the center, leaving 2 - 3 inches of the dough to fold toward the center.
Sprinkle the berries with 1 Tbsp sugar. Also place 1 Tbsp of butter (cut into small bits) over berries.

Fold the edges of dough toward the center, creating pleats.

Lightly brush the crust with water and sprinkle 1 tsp sugar over crust.

Bake 35 - 40 minutes or until golden at 400 degrees.
Eat!

California Fresh

We've lived in Arkansas long enough to have forgotten the wonder of fresh, cheap produce on the central coast. We drove the Pacific Coast Highway toward Big Sur this morning and stumbled upon produce heaven in Moss Landing.

Guacamole, anyone? It would cost me $5 bucks for 7 avocados at home!

I tried to edit this photo 5 times and it just wants to be sideways.

Giant Artichokes for $1.50.

This 33 cent grapefruit is SO huge....it apparently frightens me.

That's a 2-bite cherry. SO sweet!

Grapes!

Size-of-my-head artichokes

And the view from PCH below Carmel.

Cold and foggy today.

Deviled Eggs

DEVILED EGGS

12 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup light mayonaise
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp chopped dill pickle
Paprika for garnish

Raspberry Lemon Ice Cream Crisp

One of our family favorite desserts is a very simple ice cream cake. It started out just lemony. The addition of raspberries is a new twist on an old favorite. Thanks, Mom! We just took the coveted 'best dessert' award at the annual RS pool party potluck. :)


Raspberry Lemon Ice Cream Crisp


4 cups corn flakes
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 box vanilla ice cream, softened
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
zest of 2 lemons
3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries



Crush cornflakes and combine with melted butter.
Press into bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.
Place in freezer.
Combine softened vanilla ice cream, lemonade concentrate and lemon zest.
Pour into cooled crust and spread evenly.
Press fresh or thawed raspberries into top and freeze overnight.
Cut into squares and serve.