When I was in junior high my family took a vacation to San Diego and while we were there we went to this Asian restaurant that was across the street from the mall we were shopping at. The restaurant was huge, low lit, and had those semi-circle booths that had such high seat backs you couldn’t see anyone on either side of you once you got in. The beams and columns were all dark, glossy wood and they had these two Chinese dragon statues on each side of the hostess station. I remember thinking A) this place is so fancy, this is what people must mean when they talk about “fine dining” and B) when I grow up I would get a corporate job in one of the high rises next door and take clients to this place for lunch to impress them. See, I grew up in a small mountain town where our “fanciest” restaurants were The Olive Garden and a cowboy steak house. Our tallest building was the three story courthouse and people didn’t walk around in “power suits”, we walked around in snow suits. I had major big city envy. We ended up moving to Southern California when I was in high school and once a year or so we’d go down to San Diego to shop and eat chicken lettuce wraps at that restaurant. That restaurant, by the way, is PF Changs. I honestly crack up every time I think of that memory because little ole’ small town me had a very low bar for “fine dining”. Gabe and I haven’t eaten at a PF Changs in probably 10 years but I’m sure their chicken lettuce cups are still just as good as I remembered.
Asian food is one of those cuisines we tend to cook at home rather than eat out at a restaurant. Most places use way to much salt and additives for us and we usually feel pretty terrible afterwards. We had a weird craving for PF Changs lettuce cups a while back and started playing around with this recipe. These are delicious! We always cook with chicken thighs because we find them to be more flavorful and forgiving than breasts but feel free to substitute. We also used a bagged kale brocolli slaw mix that we get at Costco or Trader Joes but you can get any kind of kale salad mix just look for ones that have cabbage and carrots. I don’t like the add ins or the pre-made dressings so I usually just toss those but if you aren’t as wasteful as me you can repurpose them on a different salad. Alternatively you can make your own greens/veggie mix by chopping kale and cabbage and then shredding carrots and brocolli stems. You can also serve this over rice or cauliflower rice if you don’t want lettuce cups.
Happy Cooking!
Cashew Chicken Lettuce Cups
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup cashews, chopped
- 4-6 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1/2 cup bone broth
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/2 tsp honey
- 1 bag chopped kale salad
- 1 head cabbage or bibb lettuce for serving
- 1-2 TBSP avocado or coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat a large cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the coconut or avocado oil
- Sprinkle salt, pepper, and tapioca flour over the chicken and stir to cover all the pieces
- Add the chicken to the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes until chicken is browned and almost cooked through
- Add the cashews and cook and additional 2-3 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Remove to bowl
- Add garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant
- Add broth to deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits
- Add the coconut aminos, rice vinegar, garlic chili sauce, fish sauce, lime, and honey to the pan. Turn heat to medium-low and allow sauce to simmer for 5-10 minutes or until it has reduced by half. Sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon
- Add the vegetables from the kale salad mix and cook for 1-2 minutes until it begins to soften *
- Add the chicken and cashews back to the pan and stir to combine. Cook an additional 30-60 seconds
- Serve over bibb lettuce or cabbage
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