Lettuce Wraps.... and a beer

I'm not sure you can really tell by the photo, but wow these are HUGE. I made two but could only eat one, which is great considering how healthy they are.

Being a relatively frugal college student, I love having leftovers that I can use as lunch or dinner for the rest of the week.Pretty quick to make, and adapted from one of my most trusty cookbooks- just watch out for the onions, don't let them brown too quickly, but turn your heat up enough so that they don't take twenty minutes like mine did. There were some substitutions I had to make with this recipe (the recipe called for Boston lettuce, I had hearts of romaine). I ran out of rice vinegar too, but they turned out lovely and spicy without being heavy and greasy.

Chicken Stir-Fry Wraps

adapted from Martha's "Great Food Fast"

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, halved horizontally and thinly sliced

*All I had was frozen cutlets. Lame. But they worked and tasted just fine. If you are going to buy frozen by the bag like I do, it's cheap and you can buy in bulk so you always have frozen chix to thaw out when you need them. Just make sure you don't buy any sort of flavored breast like mesquite etc. I used about 2 1/2 cutlets and then sliced as described above.

Course Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 large onion halved and thinly sliced

1 large red bell pepper, ribs & seeds removed, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger

1/4-1/2 red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

12-16 Boston lettuce leaves, or what-have-you (2 heads)

1. Season the chicken with salt & pepper. In a large nonstick skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add half the chicken; cook, stirring constantly until opaque throughout and lightly golden brown. 2-4 minutes. Transfer to a place and repeat with the remaining chicken.

2. Add the remaining tablespoon oil to the pan, along with the onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until the onion is tender and golden, about 4 minutes (or so they say). Reduce heat if they are browning too quickly. Being a native Texan, I like a little char, at least on the red peppers.

3. Reduce the heat to medium; add the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes to the pan; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30-60 seconds.

4. Stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, and cornstarch mixture; remove from heat. Add chicken and any accumulated juices; toss to coat. Serve in lettuce cups/wraps.