In the spirit of breaking out of the typical Easter dinner mold for the second year in a row (and a passionate hatred of ham), this year I decided to take the Asian route. Last year we had a vegetarian pizza party, which was a wild success. But what would my fans say if I simply repeated myself? They expected more from me and more importantly, I expected more from myself.
Now, I call this a “Special Occasion” Asian spread because it does take longer to prepare than your average weeknight dinner. I mean just look at it, there’s a lot going on! The good news is that you can make a ton of each dish and thanks to the amount of leftovers you’ll have, you’ll never have to cook again!
Okay, so here’s the breakdown:
Lettuce Wraps – Ground chicken, hoisin sauce, crunchy water chestnuts… who knew lettuce could taste this good?
Chicken Coconut Curry – Honestly, this one surprised me with its deliciousness. So much flavor! So much GOOD flavor! Shredded chicken and veggies in a creamy coconut sauce with plenty of herbs and spices served over rice.
Homemade Spring Rolls – You can find the recipe for these cute little guys here.
Gyozas: Yeah, I just bought these from Trader Joe’s… No regrets though, they make a mean chicken gyoza. Plus it took me like ten minutes instead of ten hours to make.
Brown Rice: Made about a cup and a half in the ol’ instant pot. How I ever cooked rice without that thing, I’ll never know.
Dipping essentials: Soy sauce and Sweet Chili dipping sauce are both REQUIRED. Not really. But do you want to eat your spring rolls and gyozas dry and naked? I didn’t think so.
Before I get to the recipes, a few notes: I’m not a fan of spicy food, so if you prefer to have your dinner set fire to your tongue instead of actually enjoying it (did I mention I don’t like spicy food?), feel free to add chili flakes or jalapenos or any other spicy substance to these dishes. Also, as anyone who regularly cooks will know, recipes aren’t always exact. With baking, yeah, you should probably actually measure that cup of flour instead of “eyeballing” it (speaking from oh so much experience). But when it comes to cooking, I feel like recipes should be seen more as guidelines. Along the way if you’re feeling creative or something deep in your heart is telling you to add a little more of this or a little less of that, go for it! Most of the time, these dishes are relatively easy to adjust if you got a little too creative. But more often than not, trusting your instincts lead to an even better meal.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 3 green onions, sliced (reserve dark green parts for later)
- 1 cup portabella (or shiitake) mushrooms, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch peeled ginger, minced
- 1 cup water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 head butter lettuce (or Boston lettuce as an alternative)
Cook chicken with onion (yellow and green), mushrooms, garlic, and ginger over medium heat for about five minutes. Add water chestnuts and cook for another 3-4 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Pour over chicken and mix well. Once cooked through, turn off heat and stir in green onion (the green part). top with additional green onion if desired. Serve with butter lettuce leaves.
Chicken Coconut Curry
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1 inch peeled ginger, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 green onions, sliced (reserve dark green parts for later)
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 1 orange pepper, sliced
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 2 Chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- Juice of two limes
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- Vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 3-4 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1/4 cup cilantro, diced
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, diced
- Salt, to taste
In a pot over medium heat, cook onions (yellow and green) in a few tablespoons of oil until soft. Add peppers and chicken, cook for a few minutes. Mix together peanut butter, brown sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce in a small bowl. Add mixture along with the coconut milk to the pot. Stir in cilantro and basil and salt to taste. Simmer for at least 30 minutes on a low heat. top with green onion, cilantro, and basil (if desired) before serving over rice.
Vegetable Spring Rolls
Other
- Brown Rice: I made 1 1/2 cups (uncooked). Either cook stovetop, microwave, or use a rice cooker or instant pot (1 cup rice to 1 1/4 cup water. So to cook 1 1/2 cups rice you would need just shy of 2 cups of water). Cook about an hour before the meal and keep warm until serving
- Chicken Gyozas: I bought these from Trader Joe’s. They also have pork and veggie versions. These should be the last things you cook.
- Soy sauce and sweet Thai dipping sauce. Pretty much sold at any supermarket.
