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No More Stress To Impress

Photo by JADEN HAIR

These Thai chicken lettuce cups are high on taste, but low on stress.

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By JADEN HAIR

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 2, 2008

After an entire morning and afternoon of recipe testing, I would often wrap up the food and bring it to the kids' preschool for the teachers to share. They'd fully enjoy dishes such as Pork Chops with Plum, Ginger and Star Anise Sauce; Mango Curry Chicken and Lemongrass; Chili and Kaffir Lime Shrimp. Hey, it's always a smart thing to get on the good side of teachers. Bribing with cash is a bit too obvious, and who can resist a free tray of gourmet food?

So, the word spread quickly around the school and to the other kids' parents that I was a professional cooking teacher and food writer, and at first I was all smug about having a good reputation. But then I quickly realized that being known as a chef has its consequences. One morning when I dropped the kids off at school, the teacher rubbed her hands together, beamed at Nathan and said, "What wonderful lunch did your mommy pack for you today? I can't wait to see your baby gourmet meal!"

I quickly snatched the lunch back and mumbled, "Oh, I forgot his silverware and cloth napkins!" That particular morning I had packed a sandwich on wheat bread, but all that was left of the loaf was one good slice and the two brown end pieces, so his sandwich was a mismatched, ghetto-looking, tough-luck PBJ.

I dashed home, chucked his sandwich in the trash, spent a half-hour making Seared Scallops with a Tropical Salsa and a side of Coconut Scented Rice and repacked his lunch. For a 4-year-old.

And I know how ridiculous this all sounds, but it's like if your family owned a Porsche dealership and you drove around in an '82 Toyota Camry. Does. Not. Compute.

It became insanely stressful, this self-imposed expectation of making elaborate school lunches every single morning. Some mornings I'd be so tired that I'd just throw random bits of leftover whatevers from the refrigerator and instruct my kids to call it "lunch, deconstructed." The lowercase is important, because you know all those modern, hip restaurants that deconstruct food always use those lowercase letters.

And then the thought occurred to me that if I added lettuce leaves to the hodge-podge, they could call it "lettuce cups." Fancy restaurants charge big money for lettuce cup appetizers!

When the kids changed schools this year, I made the decision not to overwhelm myself with unnecessary stress. All that time wasted on packing gourmet school lunches was ridiculous.

Instead of bringing food, I palmed each teacher a twenty.

THAI CHICKEN LETTUCE CUPS

Here's a great way to use up leftover roasted chicken or turkey (clip this recipe and save it for your day-after-Thanksgiving meal). Just shred the meat with your hands into thin strips. Instead of pre-assembling these lettuce cups, it's more fun to lay out all the ingredients so each person can make their own cups. I've given you two types of dressings; just drizzle the dressing on top after layering ingredients in your cup. Finish off with a sprinkling of roasted peanuts. Instead of making your own dressing, you also can purchase a bottle of any type of Asian-style salad dressing.

1 pound cooked chicken meat, pulled or cut into bite-sized pieces

1 head butter lettuce, iceberg or any lettuce with cup-shaped leaves, leaves separated

2 carrots, grated with large holes of grater

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

To serve, put each ingredient on its own plate or bowl. Arrange on table so that each guest can make their own lettuce cups.

TANGY CHILI-LIME DRESSING

1 finger-length chili pepper, finely minced (use as much as you want)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

Whisk together all ingredients. You don't have to use too much of this dressing on your lettuce cups, just a tiny bit spooned into your cup will flavor all of the ingredients.

THAI PEANUT DRESSING

4 garlic cloves

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter

2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 1/4 teaspoons Asian hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Puree all ingredients except for the oil in blender. With machine running, gradually add oil and blend until dressing is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Yields 4 servings

Source: Epicurious.com

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