I love rice. It’s one of my favorite sides and I don’t ever get tired of eating it. I grew up in a home where we ate rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had never made Mexican rice before I got married, but I love this recipe.

Mexican Rice

1 tablespoon oil
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups water (or 1 can chicken broth-omit the chicken base/bouillon)
1 tsp chicken base or chicken bouillon
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp taco seasoning

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add rice and stir often, until rice turns a nice golden toasty color. Add the seasonings and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant, add tomato sauce and water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low (make sure a simmer is still maintained) and cook for 20-25 minutes until rice is tender. Mix and fluff with a fork.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Kick Off Those Heels N Cook

 

Growing up one of my favorite places to eat was a little Chinese restaurant down the street from our house. They had the most delicious Chinese food. When I moved stateside I was surprised how different the Chinese food I grew up with in Germany was to the local Chinese places. In Germany, all the Chinese food I ordered came with lots of fresh vegetables. Here, it seemed like everything was deep fried and covered in sweet sauces. When I started dating my husband, one of the places he took me to was P.F. Chang’s and I fell in love with the crispy, savory lettuce wraps. I scoured online to find the perfect recipe so I could recreate them at home. I love the combination of chicken and mushrooms in the cold lettuce. So good!Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 tablespoon oil
1 chicken breast finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp fresh grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves grated or minced
1 package baby portabello mushrooms diced
1 can sliced water chestnuts diced
3 green onions chopped

Stir Fry Sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce (I prefer Kikkoman brand)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Saute the chicken breast in the oil until no longer pink and cooked through in a large pan over medium heat. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and water chestnuts and cook for 5-7 minutes until mushrooms cook down. Add the stir fry sauce, ginger, garlic and green onions and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve in iceberg lettuce leaves.

Dipping Sauce-

1/2 cup sugar
¹⁄₂ cup water
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tbs ketchup
1 tbs lemon juice

Mix together dipping sauce ingredients and serve with lettuce wraps.

*Tip- I buy my ginger and then peel all the skin off and place in a ziplock bag and freeze it. It’s so much easier to grate this way and also you can always have ginger on hand for recipes. I grate my garlic just like my ginger.

Recipe slightly adapted from: Food.com