Gingery Beef Lettuce Wraps

Gingery Beef Lettuce Wraps

Here's another Asian style recipe, quickly adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe that I made for dinner last night. Believe me when I say that eating this feels NOTHING like dieting -- these lettuce wraps are full of flavor, texture and have the elusive "umami" we all hear so much about. I changed the recipe slightly, adding ingredients that upped the flavor. I keep most of these things on hand, because I love cooking this way! (See some more takes on lettuce wraps HERE and also HERE)

Once you've purchased the needed spices and condiments, you can create so many healthy meals. This is not difficult cooking so please don't be intimidated by the  number of ingredients. They are mostly inexpensive and easy to find in a regular grocery store! So here we go -- the only ingredient I added that will add Smart Points to your total -- if you are "counting" -- is the Hoisin Sauce, which adds 1 point to the 3 specified by Weight Watchers. The Hoisin Sauce adds a richness and slight sweetness which interacts nicely with the salty soy sauce and the rice wine vinegar, which I added as well. I've also added Sriracha Hot Sauce, because we like things a little spicy, but leave it out if you don't. Use low sodium selections if you are sensitive to salt or have high blood pressure.

Gingery Beef Lettuce Wraps
4 servings

1 lb. 93% lean ground beef
1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
2 Tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon minced fresh garlic
2 cups Bok Choy, thinly sliced
2 cups shiitake or white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced, stems chopped
1 medium red pepper, thinly sliced
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
1 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
Sriracha Sauce (may be omitted if you don't like spicy)
Lime wedges, iceberg or butter lettuce, cucumber pieces and fresh cilantro for serving

Wash 6 - 8 large lettuce leaves and chill in the refrigerator. Dice half a cucumber and cut up a little cilantro to top lettuce wraps. If you don't care for cilantro, use either fresh basil or mint. You  only need a little, the fresh herbs add some extra special flavor on the wraps!

Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and add the beef over medium high heat. Using a wooden spoon, break the beef apart and crumble it. When it begins to brown add the onion and ginger. Sprinkle over 1 T. of the soy sauce. Cook a 4 - 5 minutes and add the garlic. Saute' briefly to incorporate garlic, then add the red pepper, mushrooms and bok choy. Cook the mixture until the bok choy begins to wilt.  Stir in the remaining soy sauce, Hoisin sauce and rice wine vinegar. Squeeze Sriracha sauce over the top, if using, about 1 - 2 T. Cover the pan, turn down the heat and let cook for 5 minutes.

Gingery beef stir fry mixture

Put a lettuce leaf or two on a plate and top with 1/3 - 1/2 cup of beef mixture. Top with cucumber, herbs and a squeeze of lime. Squeeze on extra Sriracha if you really like spicy -- my husband did! Enjoy!

Seared Sashimi Tuna with Cold Cucumber Noodle Salad

Grilled Sashimi Tuna Steaks with Cold Cucumber Noodle Salad

Looking at my blog recently, you'd think we are on an Asian kick around our house, and to some degree, we are! When you've been cooking a long LONG time, like I have, it's fun to try new dishes, and to that end, I've been working on my Asian repertoire. I'm on a self improvement kick and while I love the local "Chinese" take-out, I KNOW it's loaded with fat and sodium. SO, to still get my fill of what I want to eat and keep it healthy, I've started making take out food at home.

I found this recipe in a Weight Watcher's brochure. It looked so good, I had to try it! I only made one or two adjustments, and none that would affect the overall calorie count, which is quite low. If you are a Weight Watcher, it adds up to just 6 "Smart Points" the current exchange rate on that eating plan. This recipe also has the advantage of being very simple and quick to make. Once you have your ingredients on hand and laid out, it's 30 minutes, tops, start to finish. You will need a non-stick ridged grill pan if you don't plan to cook the tuna on the outdoor grill. It was COLD here last night, so we opted to cook the tuna inside. If you do cook on the outdoor grill, use the olive oil to oil the grill and keep the tuna from sticking. I made this for 2 of us, and put the noodle salad away for lunch later this weekend. The salad was slightly spicy, sweet and sour all at the same time! If you are totally against spicy food, the original recipe only called for 1 tsp. of Sriracha sauce. Mine was only a little bit hot, so don't be afraid! It was so good the first time, but I'll let you know how the noodles hold up! ***Cooks note, several weeks later: I've made this again and saved the leftover noodles both time for lunch later in the week. They held up really well and tasted great! I held them 2 days the first time I made this and 3 days the nest time. The rice noodles were just slightly softer, not much. New, great pasta salad recipe! 

I'll be making this again soon, I promise!

Seared Sashimi Tuna with Cold Cucumber Noodle Salad
serves 4

3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons rice  wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Sriracha sauce
3 tsp. Kikkoman Soy Sauce, divided use
a pinch or two of Kosher salt
1/2 c. hot water
4 oz Annie Chun's Pad Thai Rice Noodles (thin)
6 radishes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1/2 English (seedless) cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves
4 Sashimi grade Tuna steaks, about 5 oz. each
1 tsp. olive oil
pinch of fresh ground black pepper
Lime wedges for garnish

1. Put a large pot half full of water on to boil for the rice noodles.
2. In a medium size non-reactive bowl, whisk together lime juice, sugar, vinegar, Sriracha sauce, 1 tsp. soy sauce, a pinch of Kosher salt and hot water.
3. Add the cucumbers into the salad dressing mixture.
4. When the water begins to boil, add the rice noodles and cook for 4 - 5 minutes.
5. Drain the noodles and rinse well with cold water. Drain the cold water off shaking the colander to make sure they aren't watery. Take your clean kitchen shears, and snip the noodles in a few places. The noodles I bought came in one long strand, so I wanted to make them easier to toss and to serve.
6.While the noodles drain, preheat a non-stick ridged grill pan over high heat.
7. Add the drained noodles, radishes, onion and salt to the salad dressing. Toss well to combine.

Noodle salad, flavors melding, before the cilantro is added. 

8. Sprinkle the tuna with the remaining soy sauce and a little salt and pepper. Add the olive oil to the grill pan or oil the outdoor grill.
9. Place it in the pan, on an angle over the ridges and press it lightly into the pan.You want the tuna to make good contact with the ridged grill for a good sear.  Don't move it for 1 minute. After 1 minute, rotate it to "cross hatch" the grill marks (if you feel like it, I enjoy a challenge), pressing it down again to make good contact with the pan. Turn if over after 1 additional minute. It should look like this:

Grill marks on the tuna, it only stuck a little! 

10. Cook on the other side for 1 minutes, again pressing the tuna down, for rare, 2 minutes for medium rare. I wouldn't take it farther than that, as the tuna is delicate and may dry out.
11. Add the cilantro to the noodle salad, tossing well. Using a slotted spoon, to drain the excess dressing, divide the noodle salad evenly between 4 plates. Or do half of it between 2 if it's dinner for for 2!
12 Place the tuna on the plates next to the salad, and thinly slice the tuna. Garnish with limes if desired. We squeezed some over the dish, but I forgot the limes as garnish for the pictures! It just looked and smelled so darn good! Enjoy!

Umami! Yum! 

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

I have to confess that it took me a while to get my stir fry dishes to taste the way I thought that they should taste. I think part of  my problem was that I under seasoned the dish and that I had a reluctance to use some of the prepared sauces -- such as hoisin, oyster or teriyaki -- that are readily available in the grocery stores. These items allow you to get some almost authentic taste without purchasing a bunch of different spices that you'll only use now and then. Another revelation for me has been purchasing and using fresh ginger. You can freeze a "knob" of ginger, which means it will last a really long time. By freezing it, I've got it on hand when I need it. Fresh ginger makes the same fantastic difference in a dish that fresh garlic does, as opposed to using garlic powder. It is, however, spicier than you think, so proceed with caution. Use a  microplane grater for grating the ginger --you'll achieve better results than with a box grater. You must peel off the tough outer layer before you begin to grate it and you'll need a really sharp knife to do that. You can also mince it, but be sure to mince it very finely.

This beef and broccoli stir fry hits the spot on a cold winter night. It evolved simply from what I had on hand in my freezer and pantry. It's pretty quick and easy, and delicious. Skip the take-out this week and try my tasty Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry! The key to successful stir frying is to do the prep work in advance. Once you begin to actually cook, it will take very  little time. Since rice takes longer -- especially if you use brown rice -- start that first, 30 minutes or so before you begin to stir fry. I like to add a cube of bouillon to the water and use that in place of salt in the rice, but either way works fine. You can also serve this over rice noodles if you prefer.

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
serves 4

For the stir fry: 
3/4 lb. lean sirloin or tenderloin tips, cut into bite size pieces  
1/2 tsp. Chinese 5 Spice Blend (always at my grocery store) aka "Pae-Lo" Powder                               1 T. soy sauce
2 cups broccoli florets, fresh or frozen (if frozen, rinse them and let them thaw a little bit)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced (no need to be too thin)
1/4 c. carrot cut into match sticks or shaved with a vegetable slicer
2 tsp.  minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 - 2  tsp. grated fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp. ginger powder)
1 c. quartered (if very large) or halved mushrooms (shiitake if you can find them, otherwise use button or baby bellas)
1 small can sliced water chestnuts, optional
Peanut oil for frying

For the sauce:
1 cube beef bouillon
3/4 c, water
2 T. hoisin sauce
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. sriracha sauce
2 tsp. seasoned rice wine vinegar
1T. teriyaki sauce
pinch of salt
a pinch of dried red pepper flakes (if you like a little heat)
1 heaping T. corn starch

2 cups rice for serving ( I used a 1/2 brown 1/2 white rice mixture)

Cut your beef into bite sized pieces and lay them on a paper towel to dry. This will help with the searing.   While the beef is drying off, prepare your vegetables, ginger and garlic.

Drying the beef.

Veggie prep.

Get out your wok or a big, heavy frying pan and preheat it on medium high heat. You want the pan to be HOT. Prepare your ingredients in advance, this goes quickly!

Get the sauce ready before you begin. Heat the water and dissolve the bouillon cube in it. Add all the remaining ingredients -- except for the corn starch! -- and stir well to combine.

Big ol' wok with beef and onions.

Pour enough peanut oil to coat the bottom of the pan's' surface in a thin layer. When the oil begins to shimmer, you are ready to begin the stir fry. Add the beef to the skillet in a single layer. Sprinkle the beef with the 5 Spice Blend. Let the beef sear before you begin to move it around in the pan. This happens pretty quickly so be ready with a long spoon to stir with.  I always wear an apron when stir frying. The oil is hot and it will splatter! When the beef is light brown all over, add the onions.

When the onions start to turn gold and soften, add the soy sauce and then the broccoli, carrots and garlic. Continue to stir for about 3 minutes, then add the mushrooms. Be careful not to break them up -- that's why I recommend quartering or halving them as opposed to slicing them. Lastly, add the water chestnuts, if using. They add a nice crunch!

Ready for the sauce.

Now it's time to add the sauce. Stir the corn starch into the sauce right before you pour it over the stir fry in the skillet. Make sure all of the corn starch is dissolved. Mix the sauce gently in the skillet and turn the heat down once it begins to bubble. Cover the pan -- I have an extra large lid, but a sheet of aluminum foil will work fine. Let everything cook together about 5 minutes -- or until the vegetables are as soft as YOU like them. Serve over rice  (or rice noodles if you prefer).

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry, close up.
This batch didn't have water chestnuts in it, simply because there weren't any in the pantry! 

Cedar Plank Salmon with Soy Glaze



 Last time I blogged, I wrote about being in a chicken breast rut, but we were in a salmon rut too. Salmon is another one of those things I buy every month. Now that there are usually just 2 of us for dinner, I buy a big piece from a big box store and cut it into 2 pieces. I usually oven poach it (Here's my post about how to do that ) or cook it with a lemony herb mixture on top (here's that method ). Anytime I have any leftovers, I make salmon spread, a wonderful appetizer or sandwich spread ( recipe here ). Obviously WE LIKE SALMON but it was time to try something new! After browsing some recipes on my favorite spots, here's what I came up with. It was delicious and it was definitely DIFFERENT. While it took a little time to reduce the glaze, it was not hard to do. If you don't have a cedar cooking plank, they are easy to find -- anyplace that has a good kitchen supply department will have them. You need to soak it for an hour or 2  in plain old tap water before using, but that's pretty simple. I actually had  everything in my pantry for this dinner except the fresh ginger. Give this a try next time you fix salmon and you want to step it up a bit!

Cedar Plank Salmon with Soy Glaze

Put your plank in water to soak, according to the directions on the package. I soaked mine about 90 minutes.

For the glaze:

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. soy sauce

2 T. hoisin sauce

1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 tsp.)

1 2" piece of ginger, peeled and grated

Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn down the heat to low and let the sauce reduce until about 1/2 in volume.

Preheat your grill to hot cooking temperature.

You will need about 1 - 1.25 lbs of salmon, cut to fit onto the plank. Lay the salmon on the plank and brush it with the glaze.



Salmon on Grill

Place the plank onto the grill and close the lid. Let it cook over medium heat for about 6 minutes. Brush on a little more glaze after 3 - 4 minutes.  Don't worry about the smoke or the slight charring on the edge of the plank -- that's where the good smoke flavor comes from. I left mine on for 8 minutes and it was almost too dry. It cooks pretty quickly, but it will depend on how thick the salmon is. Salmon is cooked when it flakes easily with a fork or knife tip inserted into the thickest part.

I served my glazed salmon with some Pot Stickers from Trader Joe/s and stir fried veggies. Cut a lime and squeeze that over the salmon right before you eat it -- yummy! I prepped the pot stickers and vegetables before I began cooking the fish, so that when it went on the grill, everything was ready to eat when it was done. I also reheated the leftover glaze and we used it to drizzle on the salmon and the potstickers. The glaze recipe is a KEEPER! (Probably be good with chicken or pork too!)

Glazed Salmon, Pot Stickers and Stir Fried Vegetables for dinner!

Here's how I did the veggies:

Stir Fried Vegetables

1 tsp. peanut oil

1 small onion, sliced

2 cloves minced garlic

2 ribs celery, trimmed and sliced

1 c. shredded cabbage

6 button mushroom, sliced

16 snow peas, washed and threads removed

1 tsp. peeled ginger, grated

1 T. soy sauce

a little salt to taste

In a medium to large non-stick skillet, heat the peanut oil until it starts to shimmer (hot). Add the onion, garlic and celery. Stir that around for 2 - 3 minutes until the veggies begin to soften. Add the soy sauce and ginger to the pan and then add the cabbage and cook for another 2 -3  minutes, stirring periodically. Don't let them brown. Lastly, add the mushrooms and snow peas. Sprinkle the pan with 2 T. water, turn down the heat to medium, cover it and let the mixture steam about 5 minutes. Any combination of vegetables your family likes will work, but this is what I had on hand.

Stir Fried Vegetables

Lettuce Wraps

My husband and I love to sit at the bar at PF Changs and order Chicken Lettuce Wraps with our cocktail. However, not too long ago I saw the calorie count for them, and realized that they won't fit in with my current eating plan. I tried a few different lower calorie ones, but none really measured up to my expectations. Then I found this recipe, which I changed up a little to satisfy my craving for those high cal babies. Now, these wraps are made from flank or flat iron steak, which, obviously, is not chicken. Nor does it "taste like chicken" as the saying goes. What they do taste like is delicious and they ARE fun to eat, like the inspiration dish. (IF you have not tried flat iron or flank steak, you must give it a try. It is lean and very economical.) I even invented a side dish to eat with them. You can add the slaw to the wrap, or eat it separately. You may also sprinkle this with dry roasted, chopped peanuts if desired, but we prefer it without.
Korean Style Beef Lettuce Wraps
3/4 lb. flank steak, trimmed
1/2 c. green onions, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 T. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. minced garlic
1 T. sesame oil
1-2 T. canola oil (divided)
1 T. toasted sesame seeds, optional
3 c. hot cooked rice leaf lettuce for wrapping, washed and dried, separated into individual leaves Asian Cole Slaw (recipe follows)
Cut steak across the grain into 1/4" slices and then cut them in half ( it helps to put the steak into the freezer for about 5 minutes before slicing -- this firms it up just a little). Combine steak, onions, sugar, soy sauce, garlic and sesame oil in a large bowl. Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add 1/2 - 1 T. canola oil, swirling to coat (you can use less oil if you use a nonstick pan, just make sure it's deep enough). Add half of steak mixture and stir fry until browned. Remove to a clean bowl. Add a little more canola oil and stir fry the rest of your beef/onion mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
Asian Cole Slaw
2 cups slaw mix ( I like the angel hair cut, but any will work) 1 green onion, thinly sliced 1 small cucumber, seeded, peeled and cut into "matchstick" pieces dressing mixture Make your dressing first: 1 tsp. sesame oil 1 tsp. canola oil 1. T. brown sugar 1/4 c. rice wine vinegar pinch of salt Combine those ingredients in a jar or small bowl and shake or whisk to combine. Pour over the vegetables and toss it all around, then let it sit for while at room temp. Stir it now and then to distribute dressing and coat the veggies.
To Assemble Wraps: Separate your lettuce leaves. Take one leaf, and spoon about 2 T. rice down the middle. Top with about 2 T. beef mixture and a spoonful or 2 of slaw, if desired. Roll your leaf and enjoy it. Makes about 8 filled lettuce leaves. 2 main dish servings or 4 appetizer servings. Each "leaf" contains approx. 100 cal. (without the slaw), 3 grams of fat and less than 1 gram of fiber.