Throwback Thursday: Chicken Lettuce Wraps...revised

I  had planned to make this one exactly the way we did before - there just wasn't anything I wanted to change, we loved this recipe the way it was and planned to love it again tonight. But, we just aren't in control of everything now are we!

In our grocery excursion on Sunday, I did not pick up the butter lettuce needed for the "lettuce wrap" part of the chicken lettuce wraps. When I realized this, I asked Mr. Max to please pick it up on his way over tonight. As he was grabbing that last piece, I'm making the chicken mix just as the recipe said....

Well, grocery store didn't have the package of perfectly stacked butter lettuce, so the clerk gave him a head of it instead. Max said he was kinda skeptical about it, the leaves looked a little dingy, but the clerk said they were really fresh. He arrives, we are getting ready to dish it out, but as I'm breaking apart the lettuce leaves to wash, I come across something that caused me to change up the way dinner was planned for tonight. Meet our little friend, the Curtis the Caterpillar:

For whatever reason, he looks black in this picture but in real-life, he was very green.

That's right, I named him. Super fresh indeed Mr. Clerk Man, so fresh that the insects are still inhabiting the food we just bought to consume. Now, I'm sure caterpillars are as clean as they are... ahem, cute... but I am not about to serve up leaves that I saw bugs in. No sir, no way. So, we improvised!

Say hello to tonight's Throwback Thursday rendition of Chicken Lettuce Wraps... Stir Fry: The Remix (insert the wah-ah-wah-ah noise that DJ's make with their turntable things). We remove the lettuce wrap aspect and added some fresh steamed broccoli with the rice and chicken to still get the greens in. It was a delicious replacement and fun variation furthering my belief that everything happens for a reason! (Hi, nice to meet you, I plug corny anecdotes in wherever possible)

I also give you a delicious wine pairing for this meal! Little story for you, I recently enrolled in a wine club. While I do love wine, the reason for this was not to expand my palette, though a perk, but because American Airlines Advantage Program told me that I would receive 2,000 miles for enrolling if I spent $48 on my first month in this wine club. Because I am a sucker for bargain deals, I thought to myself "self, you should do this." So I did and by doing so, I'd receive 6 wines - either mixed, all whites or all reds - and a 9 piece wine opener set. Merry Christmas in April. 

My shipment came today, as did the reality. Mental note reminder to cancel tomorrow - I got my miles and the enrollment deal, now I cancel before next month and the price more than doubles beginning in month two! I do love wine, but not that much, nor do I drink it enough to justify an additional 6 bottles per month, Lordy. Anyway, the point is, I received the shipment today and went with the mixed blend because spring/summer is upon us and white wine in warmer climates is favorable. Each wine came with an informative pairing card, the Clark Road Vintners Viognier (2010) said it was best paired with barbeque chicken or stir fry, so I decided we had a winner and this was a perfect excuse to open one. I'd never tried Viognier before but I have to say I recommend this one - both the recipe rendition and the wine!

 We just started and are hooked on the AMC series, Breaking Bad - no pun intended given the content and premise of the series. Tonight's dinner was a coffee-table-classic, as we watched our show!

Grocery list is all the same, minus the lettuce and adding the broccoli florets, same as the recipe process. So help yourself to this for the original but for tonight's version, all you do is add in broccoli to the chicken mix, increase the Tamari and sweet chili sauce to your personal preferences, create a bed with the rice, then serve!