Friday, October 9, 2009

Thai Lettuce Wraps

One of my favorite meals is the Thai Lettuce Wraps Appetizer (plenty large enough for a meal!) at the Cheesecake Factory.  Gaining inspiration from Lindsay (I might as well mention one more time how amazing of a cook and baker she is!), I decided to try my hand at homemade Thai Lettuce Wraps.  While Lindsay would make up her own variations based on what she tastes, I have to read recipes!  Thank you Google - you can find the exact ones at Meemo's Kitchen blog.  


On Wednesday night, I tried my hand at them, and they turned out super yummy!  If you're a cooking pro you can probably disregard this next part, but I have to admit that this dish took me a lot of time and energy.  Worth it in the end?  Definitely.  But be warned.  

Husband ready to eat!

Close-up

*A few variations that I did try:
- For time and money sake, I bought Ramen Noodles, Oriental flavor, and cooked them as instructed.  Then drained the noodles, and topped with peanuts.  Wasn't too bad at all.  And only $.25!
- Another time saver, I decided to only make two sauces that we like - the Thai Sweet Red Chili sauce and the Peanut sauce.  They also happened to be the only two that didn't require a blender or food processor, which saves lots of clean-up time!  
- To cut costs, I decided to go with iceberg lettuce.  Never again!  Iceberg breaks apart too easily; therefore, making the meal even messier.  Plus, bibb lettuce is like butta.  
- Finally, the Thai Sweet Red Chili sauce calls for 3 Tblsp hot ground chili paste.  Well, I just couldn't find any at the grocery.  But I did have hot chili sauce from Dekalb Farmer's Market that worked just fine.  

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