I cooked something new! Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So two days after my post about how I have not cooked anything interesting, I actually tried a new recipe. A few of my high school friends had a hang-out/reminisce/gossip session a few days ago which was a great excuse for me to try a new recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks Grazing by Julie Van Rosendaal (*gasp* I actually used a cookbook!).

Here is the actual recipe with the substitutes I made in italics:

Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps 

1 tbsp canola or sesame oil
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, chopped into small strips (I used medium-firm tofu)
2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced (4 to 5 mushrooms) (I do not like mushrooms so I used random veggies from the fridge, broccoli, beans, carrots, a few sugar peas)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
salt and pepper to taste
1 small red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional) (I would definitely use them again)
3 green onions, chopped (I used regular onions as that is what I had around)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (Super easy to make, I used this recipe)
1/2 large head iceberg lettuce, quartered (I used leafy lettuce from my 'garden', iceberg lettuce has no nutrition in it anyway)

1) Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the chicken over a mediusm-high heat for a few minutes. Add the mushroomms and cook for another minute or two, until they turn golden. Add the garlic, ginger, salt, and pepper and cook a minute more. Add the red pepper, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for a minute.

2) Add the hoisin sauce and toss to coat well and heat through. Transfer the chicken mixture to a serving platter and serve along the wedges of iceberg lettuce. To eat, pile some of the mixture onto a lettuce leaf, wrap it up, and eat it like a burrito.

(So I basically chopped the tofu into small bits and fried it up with all the veggies, garlic, ginger, and onions. I tried to add the veggies based on what takes the longest to cook, carrots and broccoli  first, red pepper last. I added the sauce a bit earlier in the process as I find tofu needs time to soak up all the flavors. I also used all the sauce that I made from the other recipe which I'm sure was way more than a 1/4 cup. I think the extra sauce prevented it from being dry)



The wraps went over very well and they were a great addition to our snack/finger food/wine potluck. My partner was the only one who said they would have been better with chicken but he was the only one who saw the actual recipe so he doesn't count. And of course I do not have a picture because I like to have monotonous blog with no visual stimulation. (I need to start channeling my very-hidden-inner Instagram-er and start taking more pictures of food).