Summer Dinners - no. 7

I can’t believe this is the seventh Summer Dinners posting! There will be eleven in all, and I’ve got some treats for you coming up. This week, I’ve got: a conversation starter, a refreshingly tropical popsicle recipe, an Asian-inspired lettuce wrap recipe, and all the fun of a build-your-own pizza night!

Our family is wild about this Chicken Lettuce Wrap! It is sweet and spicy and cool and crisp. And there’s something so refreshing about a lettuce wrap. I used the Condiment Bowls on each person’s plate to hold a bit of store-bought dipping sauce, sprinkled with some chives from our garden. The platter held everything else we needed, and we each just helped ourselves.

Classic White Platter available here. Green-Rimmed Handblown Condiment Bowls here.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Cooking sauce:

1/4 c. hoisin sauce

3 t. soy sauce

3 t. dry sherry

1 1/2 T. water

3 t. sesame oil

3 t. sugar

1 1/2 T. cornstarch

3 T. chili paste

1 t. cornstarch

2 t. dry sherry

2 t. water

1 t. soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

2 pounds ground chicken

5 T. sesame oil

1 t. minced fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 green onions, minced, plus more for garnish

1 head iceberg lettuce, separated into leaves

store-bought, bottled Asian dipping sauce (opt.)

Mix all the ingredients for the cooking sauce together in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the 1 t. cornstarch, sherry, water, soy sauce, salt and pepper, and the ground chicken. With your hands, work the ingredients into the ground chicken, while still keeping the ground chicken fairly broken up.

Heat a wok or a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 T. sesame oil to the hot pan and heat until shimmering, but not smoking. Then add the chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add 1 T. sesame oil to pan. Add the ginger, garlic, and green onions to pan and stir-fry for about 30-60 seconds. Return chicken to pan. Add cooking sauce and simmer until thickened and hot.

Serve with lettuce leaves for wrapping, Asian dipping sauce, and additional, diagonally-sliced green onions.

Serves 4.

I love meals (or desserts) that are build-your-own. I think it changes the dynamics of an everyday dinner to something that seems more like a party. There’s a touch of fun! Everyone gets involved. Everyone’s invested in making their own dinner taste great! A build-your-own pizza night makes me very happy, because I’m the only one in our house who likes Canadian bacon and pineapple on their pizza, and this is the night I get to have it! What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Pizza Peel available here. And Mezzaluna available here.

BUILD YOUR OWN PIZZAS

1 recipe pizza dough (from blog here), or a store-bought ball of refrigerated, fresh pizza dough

3/4 c. pizza sauce

cornmeal

Toppings:

pepperoni

Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled

Canadian bacon, chopped

red onion, sliced

fresh basil leaves

red bell pepper, sliced

black olives, sliced

pineapple tidbits

mushrooms, (sautéed lightly in 1 T. olive oil)

shredded mozzarella cheese

fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

red pepper flakes

Insert baking sheet on bottom rack of oven, and then preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Divide pizza dough into thirds after rising. Roll/stretch each third into a circle about 6-8” in diameter. Place on a separate baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. Use the cornmeal to help slide the pizza crusts onto the hot baking sheet in oven and pre-bake for 5 minutes.

Spread 1/4 c. sauce on each prebaked crust. Let each person top pizzas as desired. Set oven shelf on next to bottom setting and return pizzas to oven to bake for approximately 8 minutes.

Makes 3, 6-8” pizzas.

What were your answers to last week’s conversation starter about the Olympics? If I were competing in the summer Olympics, I said that I’d want to compete in archery or an equestrian event. Not that I do either of those in actuality now, but it’s fun to dream, right?

This week’s Coconut Mango Popsicle is super refreshing…just the sort you might eat on the beach in Hawaii. Enjoy!

Classic Popsicle Mold and Summer Popsicle Sticks available here. (Summer Popsicle Sticks not shown here.)

COCONUT MANGO POPSICLES

1 pt. vanilla frozen yogurt, softened

1—13.5 oz. can coconut milk

1/2 c. shredded coconut

1 c. mango juice

1 c. frozen mango chunks

Combine softened frozen yogurt, coconut milk and shredded coconut in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine and break up any lumps.

Pour into popsicle mold, filling each mold approximately half full. Without inserting sticks, place mold in freezer for 35-40 minutes. The aim is to slightly harden the coconut layer, so that the two layers of the popsicle will be distinct. But don’t let it harden completely, or you will not be able to insert the popsicle stick.

Combine mango juice and mango chunks in a blender, and blend to a coarse consistency.

Remove popsicle mold from freezer and pour mango mixture into each mold to fill to top. Insert popsicle sticks. Freeze for 24 hours.

Makes approximately 10 popsicles.

I hope you create some great summer memories with these meals!