Tonight I went out on a limb. Usually I stick by recipes and follow them to the letter the first time I make them. If it's something worth repeating, I may change it up a little bit. Not tonight.
I adore Chili's Restaurant, I have for years. I dig the whole Tex-Mex menu and theme: skillet queso, cadillac fajitas, beans and rice, and of course, the flavored margaritas. But obviously, most of that cheesy, gooey delicious stuff tastes wonderful but isn't exactly wonderful for the state of my hips. So I've tried this appetizer a few times as a healthful alternative for dinner. It's their lettuce wraps, which is kind of a funny thing to find in a Tex-Mex place because they're more Asian than anything else. The ingredients are fairly simple; bibb lettuce, chicken, peanut sauce, sesame marinade, veggie and some rice noodles. So when I was at the farmer's market last weekend (again with the farmer's market!! You'd think they were paying me for advertising) I found some bibb lettuce and I remembered these wraps. Since they LOOK easy, I thought I'd give them a shot, just wing it and hope they come out good. Right down to the peanut sauce.
My friend Alana comes for dinner every Thursday. She plays with Will and we make dinner, and after Will goes to bed, we have girltalk and watch some TV. It's been a Thursday night ritual for a couple of years now. (Wow, has it been that long??) Anyway, I whip up something or we cook together and usually end up eating pretty well. Brian has gone to say that sometimes I cook better for her than I do for him, but really, he's just jeaous. :) No really, I cook things for her and I that he wouldn't eat even if I promised him Flyers tickets to eat it. No, he'd probably take it for the team. :)
So, in the spirit of living adventurously, I threw together some chicken marinated in sesame and apricot, julienned carrots, sliced onion, a can of mushrooms, chopped garlic and ginger paste. All things I already had on hand. (I have one hell of a pantry.) I even made peanut sauce from scratch, (from a recipe though) which was quite an accomplishment after yesterday's pesto debacle. Guess what? It was scrumptious!!!! We ate ALL of it, every bite. And I seriously can't wait to make it again.
Chili's, eat your heart out. They still make a better frozen margarita, though.
3 comments:
I would certainly take one for the team (or the tickets). And you do cook better for Alana than for me, but maybe that's because she eats better than I. Hamburger helper anyone!
You're making me hungry woman!
Yummy!!! I am drooling for those lettuce wraps!!! AND the banana pancakes...mmmmmmmmm! You are making me so hungry! :-)))
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