We just caught the start of a TV ad that went something like: "there's something about putting all four food groups in a taco shell that tastes so good."

Yes, I agree. Now that the Super Bowl is over, it's time to get really serious about cutting carbs, though, so how about lettuce wraps?

Boston lettuce has a nice tender leaf that is nice for wrapping the filling, but hearts of romaine have a nice boat shape and are perfect for scooping.


Chicken Lettuce Wraps

3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnut
2/3 cup mushroom
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 -5 leaves iceberg lettuce
Special Sauce
¼ cup sugar
½ cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1⁄8; teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard
2 teaspoons water
1 -2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste
Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.

Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done.
Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.
As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.
Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.

When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.
With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.
Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups".
Top with"Special Sauce".

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Last summer when I made this filling for the first time, I didn't realize the chicken breasts should be cooked first, and wondered how PF Changs achieved the evenly diced meat. Now I know. I used a lot of diced celery instead of the water chestnuts for crunch, and pinon nuts. It's one of those dishes that calls for improvising.

Tomorrow I'm going to think of something creative to do with beef chuck roast, onions, and carrots. I even have some sour cream, but want to avoid stroganoff because that's too obvious and we had it recently. The chuck is fairly tender, so I'm not afraid of quick-cooking it. Another possible dish is pot roast, but mine always comes out the same - not special, so I'll set out to avoid it, but regardless of good intentions, we might end up there anyway.