Fast, Flavorful, Forgiving: Surviving June
June. The month where the calendar is a game of Tetris, and we have about 14 minutes for dinner. In our house we are barely holding it together. There were dance recitals, tests and projects due at school, all while trying to shop and pack for sleep away camp! And tonight was no different. Somehow, we had an art show and a club fair tonight at 2 different schools. Enter: this quick, crowd-pleasing, protein-packed dinner that looks like you put in effort (but didn’t make you cry in front of the fridge).
Inspired by PF Chang’s, adapted for nights when dinner is basically a relay race.
Servings: 8
Macros (approx. per serving): 25g protein | 20g carbs
What You’ll Need:
2 lbs ground chicken
1 large onion, chopped (yes, we’re starting with a vegetable – look at us go)
3–4 cloves garlic, minced (measure with your heart)
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger (or 1 tsp ground, no judgment)
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1–2 splashes rice wine vinegar (just eyeball it like a tired cooking show contestant)
3–4 splashes soy sauce (see above)
6 tbsp hoisin sauce (or more if it’s one of those days)
2 cans chopped water chestnuts, drained
3–4 scallions, chopped
Olive oil for cooking
Romaine lettuce leaves (or butter lettuce if you’re feeling fancy)
Instructions
Heat a splash of olive oil in a large skillet. Toss in the chopped onion and sauté until it looks like you made an effort.
Add the garlic and ginger. Stir until the kitchen smells like you’ve got your life together.
Add the ground chicken and sesame oil. Brown it up like you mean it.
Splash in the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar — not too much, just enough to impress yourself.
Stir in the chopped water chestnuts and hoisin sauce. Mix until everything is saucy and you’ve forgotten you still have 3 loads of laundry waiting.
Top with scallions and pretend it’s a garnish from a restaurant.
Scoop into romaine lettuce leaves and serve — ideally to applause, but realistically, probably just to someone asking where their other shoe is.
