Chicken Lettuce Cups

This is really just a chicken stir fry served in lettuce cups but it's also good eaten on its own, over a salad or over rice.  (To keep things lighter, I like to use a spray bottle of olive oil to coat the pan before cooking chicken or veggies.)  Makes about 4 servings.  

Chicken Lettuce Cups

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cup into thin strips

2 tablespoons soy/tamari + 2 tablespoons soy/tamari

2 tablespoons rice vinegar + 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

dash olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 small bunch scallions, white part, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cup into strips

1 carrot, peeled, grated

1 cup red cabbage, thinly chopped

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup peanuts, lightly crushed

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

juice of 1/2 lime

about 12 lettuce leaves, rinsed, dried

Marinate chicken strips in 2 tablespoons soy and 2 tablespoons rice vinegar for 15 minutes in the fridge.  Remove from marinade and cook in a hot skillet 10 minutes, pouring out liquids as needed.  (I like very well cooked and slightly caramelized chicken so i cooked mine for an extra 8 minutes or so.)  Set aside.  

Wipe out skillet and add a small amount of olive oil.  Saute onion 5 minutes.  Add scallions, ginger, garlic, bell pepper, carrot, cabbage, red pepper flakes and peanuts.  Cook about 8 minutes, stirring frequently so veggies don't burn.  

In a small bowl, combine sesame oil, fish sauce, remaining soy sauce and remaining rice vinegar.  Add this and chicken to skillet.  Add lime juice and stir to combine.

Serve in lettuce leaves.  

Chicken + Cheddar Chive Dumplings

Everyone seems to be coming down with a cold so here's a little comfort food in the form of chicken and dumplings.  It's really just a simple chicken stew with dumplings cooked in.  (I used boneless, skinless chicken breast but chicken thigh meat would be good too. Also, the chicken does not need to be cooked first, I just dislike boiled chicken and find that the chicken has better texture when cooked on its own in a pan and then added to soups.  But feel free to just add your raw chicken when the recipe says so.)  No peeking at the dumplings with they're cooking.  

Chicken + Cheddar Chive Dumplings

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

3 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, minced

few springs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 onion, peeled and chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 celery root, peeled and chopped

8oz mushrooms, quartered

1/2 cup peas (frozen ones are ok)

32 oz chicken stock

1/3 cup all purpose flour (for rue)

1 cup cake flour (for dumplings)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

black pepper

1 oz cheddar cheese, grated

1 1/2 tablespoon fresh chives, minced

1/2 cup milk, (more if needed)

In a pan, cook chicken and set aside. While chicken is cooking, get the dumplings ready.  In a bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder, salt, cheddar and chives.  Stir in milk.  Set aside.  

In a large pot,on medium heat,  melt butter and add carrots, celery root, garlic, thyme sprigs and bay.  Cook 5 minutes, until onion is glossy and carrots are soft.  Add flour and stir to coat.  About 1 minute.  Turn heat to high and add stock, chicken, mushrooms and peas.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer.  Drop dumpling batter in by the spoonful.  There will be about 6 dumplings.  They will expand a lot when cooking so space them out as much as you can.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes. (No peeking at the dumplings while they're cooking, opening the lid of the pot lets steam escape and your dumplings need that steam to cook.)   Test dumplings for doneness with a toothpick, if not done, cover and simmer 5 minutes more.  

Serve hot!