Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Homemade Peanut Sauce, by Diane

This recipe idea came from cooking light, but I switched up the tofu for ground chicken. It was a great, quick weeknight dinner idea, and I really liked the idea of the homemade peanut sauce which made it a bit more special. It reminded me of a healthy version of the chicken lettuce wraps from Cheesecake Factory or PF Changs! Also, I've eaten the leftovers cold and they are really good that way, too. I modified the rice to be more like the rice from the Korean Tacos post below (after it's cooked and fluffed with a fork add a tbsp or two of toasted oil plus sesame seeds and sea salt). One final note- the sauce recipe did not make a lot so I had to double it.


Ingredients:

Sauce:
1 teaspoon canola oil 
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter 
4 teaspoons hoisin sauce
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 

Filling:
1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled (I used lean ground chicken)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
6 thinly sliced green onions (about 2/3 cup), divided
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce 
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 
2 teaspoons sugar 
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha (I used sambal oolek)
1 cup matchstick-cut cucumbers
1 cup matchstick-cut carrots 
2 cups hot cooked sticky rice

8 Bibb lettuce leaves


Directions:

1. To prepare sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallot, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 1/3 cup water and next 3 ingredients (through red pepper), and stir with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice.
2. To prepare filling, spread crumbled tofu in a single layer on several layers of paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 20 minutes, pressing down occasionally.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add 1/3 cup green onions; sauté 1 minute. Add tofu; sauté for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 tablespoons cilantro, soy sauce, ginger, sugar, and Sriracha; sauté 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in cucumbers, carrots, and remaining green onions.
4. Spoon 1/4 cup rice into each lettuce leaf. Top with about 1/2 cup tofu mixture; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon cilantro. Serve with sauce.

Korean BBQ Tacos, by Diane

I cannot say enough great things about this recipe!! I found it in a summer issue of cooking light, and thought it was an interesting way to mix Mexican (my favorite) and Korean (haven't tried a lot of it but like the Asian flavors!). The result was a super easy and quick meal that I am already making again tonight (just had it last night and there were NO leftovers in sight!!). Once you throw together the quick marinades and let it stand for an hour, the cooking process is no more than 5 minutes. What makes this dish really awesome is the combination of textures and flavors- the melt-in-your-mouth beef is seared with a sweet chili and soy marinade, the fluffy rice is flavored with sesame oil, and the crunchy cabbage is marinated in chili, garlic, and vinegar for a nice cold tang at the end of your bite that pairs so well with the warm steak and rice. Wrapping it all in a grilled warm corn tortilla is perfection. Yum!


Ingredients:

Beef:
1/3 cup sugar

5 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1/2 tablespoons chile paste (such as sambal oelek)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

12 ounces flank steak, sliced against the grain into thin strips

1/8 teaspoon salt

Cooking spray

Quick Pickled Cabbage:

3 cups chopped napa cabbage

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons chile paste

Rice:

Brown Rice, prepared according to package

1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

Salt (my addition)

Sesame seeds (my addition)

Garnishes:

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas

3 tablespoons sliced green onions


Directions:

1.  Combine first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish. Add steak to dish; cover. Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning after 30 minutes.

2. Place cabbage in a medium bowl with garlic. Bring vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and chile paste to a boil. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cabbage; toss. Let stand at least 30 minutes. 

3. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

4.  Remove steak from marinade, and discard marinade. Thread steak onto 8 (8-inch) skewers; sprinkle with salt. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

5. Grill tortillas 30 seconds on each side or until lightly charred; keep warm.

6.  Serve with rice, cabbage, green onions, and tortillas.

Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane alla Parmigiana), by Cheryl

Lately, the daughter in law of our landlord has been giving us home cooked food that she has made with her family's Italian recipes. Everything she brings to us is so good and I'm trying to emulate some of her dishes. One day she brought down an eggplant/tomato mix that she said would be good on bread, on mozzarella cheese, or mixed into pasta. After her Italian explanation of the recipe, I decided to try to make this homemade tomato sauce with eggplant and use mozzarella di bufala cheese (a staple in Naples) with Parmesan cheese to make my own Eggplant Parmesan. Though the peeling of the tomatoes took some time, it wasn't as arduous a task as I had thought. I also had to drain the eggplant overnight so make sure the water content was gone so make sure you read through the directions before starting. The key to the magnificent taste of all of these flavors was not only the freshness of the ingredients, but also that everything was homemade. The result was spectacular and I'll definitely be making this again. Yum!

Ingredients:

4-5 eggplants
a bunch of plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 mozzarella balls
shredded Parmesan cheese
salt

Directions:

1) Slice the eggplant into thin slices. I cut mine in half and then slice them. Put the slices in a strainer and cover with salt. Leave overnight to let the water leave the eggplant. I used two strainers and then in the morning took them out and left them on paper towels so they dried out some more.

2) Boil a pot of water. Prepare a bowl of cold water and set aside. Cut a very shallow slice into the tomato. Drop a tomato or two into the boiling water and leave for about 20 seconds. Fish out the tomatoes and drop immediately into the cold water. Let sit for 10-15 seconds. The tomatoes should have started to peel where the slice was made. Continue to peel away with your hands or if it's stubborn, use a knife to help.

3) Chop the tomatoes when they are all peeled.

4) Place the tomatoes in a pot over medium heat and cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can press on the tomatoes with a spoon to let out more juices and to flatten the tomato a little bit.

5) Preheat the oven to 350.

6) While the sauce is cooking, heat a pan over high heat with olive oil. When the oil is hot place the eggplant in and cook on each side until it has browned. Place eggplant on paper towels to absorb the oil.

7) Place slices of eggplant at the bottom of a baking dish. Next, a layer of sauce. Then, the mozzarella cheese. Then, a light layer of Parmesan cheese. Continue this process until you end with this layer: sauce, eggplant, Parmesan.

8) Bake for approximately 30 minutes.