Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps & Sesame Veggie Noodles

Oh Monday, the beginning of me working towards another weekend!  I put together a pretty great dinner plan through Thursday and I'm super excited for it.  It's pretty heavily Asian inspired.  Maybe I'll go with this and have a weekly theme...maybe. I always have a million ideas, much like my dad, but not equal amounts of follow through.  The flaw of a creative mind. We're dreamers and mind wanderers.  I'm the girl who wants to be a geneticist, a cook, a food truck owner, music festival vendor, bakery owner, event planner, a travelling foodie couple, and the list goes on, all in my lifetime.  Possible?  Perhaps.  But right now, as I sit in my bed, I'll be a blogger for half an hour and entertain you with my tangents.

Today I made a relatively quick and healthy meal, using pantry staples, and lots of veggies that I'll mix and match through the week.

Most of you probably hear lettuce wraps and think appetizer.  At least that is what the hubby thought we were having.  But I think lettuce wraps can be made into a complete meal just by adding a side dish!  I threw together some sesame noodles with veggies in a wok and served alongside these tasty ground chicken lettuce wraps.  I didn't make a dipping sauce because I was lazy.  Sorry! These were great without a sauce though!  Saved calories, so you're welcome. I'm sure a dollop of plain greek yogurt would be great on these if you need a little saucy-ness!

Just like the majority of my other recipes, feel free to use whatever ingredients you have on hand for veggies, meats, and toppings!  I hope I can provide you a somewhat basic "template" of doing things and you can use your creativity to make it your own!

Since we are on the subject, if you make any of my recipes, please take a picture and tag me on instagram with #liveloveatrepeat.  It would make my day to see my recipes being prepared by all of you!  You can also follow me @liveloveatrepeat on Instagram and "like" my page on FB.  Okay done with the promoting, but thank you, seriously.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large portobello mushroom cap, diced
1 lb ground chicken
1 tbs minced ginger
3 tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbs chili garlic sauce
fresh crack black pepper
minced cilantro
romaine lettuce leaves
shredded carrots
thin sliced cucumber
thin sliced radish

Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add minced garlic and brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic! It happens pretty quickly, so keep an eye on it.

Add diced mushrooms and saute until softened.  Add chicken, ginger, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and a lot of black pepper.  Keep breaking up the chicken and brown.  Once chicken is almost cooked through, turn up the heat to evaporate the liquid. Top with cilantro.  Taste and add any additional seasoning you feel it needs.

Assemble the wraps by using the "cupped" side of the lettuce leaf, spooning on chicken, and topping with carrots, cucumber, and radish.  Chomp away!

Enjoy!
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Sesame Veggie Noodles

Ramen noodles (I just used some packets my mom in law keeps in the pantry and only used the noodles)
Sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 serrano pepper, thinly sliced (discard seeds and/or ribs depending on spice level)
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/2 yellow squash, diced
1 roasted potato, quartered and diced (leftover potatoes from night before)
2 stalks green onions, large slices
2 tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
fresh cracked black pepper
1 tbs sesame seeds

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and drizzle with just a little bit of sesame oil to avoid sticky noodles.  Let sit in the colander to dry thoroughly.

Heat a wok over medium heat, add 1 tbs of sesame oil.  Add garlic, onion, and the sliced serrano peppers, and saute until the veggies have softened. Add zucchini and squash and cook until softened. Add potatoes and heat through for a minute.  Add dried noodles, green onion, soy sauce, black pepper, and sesame seeds. Toss and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Some of the noodles may stick to the bottom.  Feel free to add more oil, but I figured a few lost noodles were worth not risking "greasy" noodles.

Season with more soy sauce if needed.  I kept the seeds and ribs in my peppers, so the noodles were quite spicy, but in a good way :)

Enjoy!!