Chinese Kick {Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Chow Mein, and General Tso's Chicken}

I have been on a Chinese food kick the past week or so and it's all Andrea's fault.  My friend Andrea has been doing a "Make it yourself" series and the last couple of recipes were Chinese.  I never knew Chinese food made at home really could taste so good (without the added MSG, preservatives, ect) and be so, well, Chineasy.  My kids loved both, which is important for this mom...although, I do tend to try out a recipe 3-4 times on my family before I scrap it.  Sometimes kids just need familiarity and then, wham!  They love it.  I had also found some reusable wooden chopsticks for the family, so we're trying our hand at that, too. 

So here's a link to Andrea's Chow Mein and Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

The chow mein  and lettuce wraps are simple to make GF:

-use brown rice pasta, such as Trader Joes or Tinkyada (don't over cook!)
-use wheat free/gluten free tamari, such as San-J brand (which you can also get soy free...)
-use any starch as your thickener.  I've found that tapioca, arrowroot, and potato all work perfectly.  Just be sure that your potato starch is starch and not potato flour.

Seriously, these are good.  Go ahead.  Try them.  And I dare you to use chopsticks.

The other recipe that I found that will be on our menu is General Tso's Chicken found at Tasty Kitchen.
It is gluten free from the get-go, and really good!  The change up's I made were the thickener and the sweetener, and to omit the chili garlic sauce.  I used tapioca starch as the thickener and agave as the sweetener.  Really, the only problem I had was in the frying; the oil splattered somethin' fierce.  But it was worth it. 



 

Sweet and Spicy Glazed Meatballs

I love meatballs.  My sister thinks I'm strange for that, wink.  My husband's mother makes a good meatball and that's where I learned it.  My sister in law makes some little meatball appetizers that are glazed with grape jelly and chili sauce.  Cocoa at Chocolate on My Cranium makes them that way, too.
I liked those and then I saw these apricot glazed brunch meatballs from Mennonite Girls Can Cook and those looked great, too!  I thought that these jelly-glazed meatballs were a rare commodity, until I noticed variations popping up all over the place, including my grandma's 80th birthday party.  (They served meatballs in the BBQ sauce/grape jelly version.)  All this to say that I have my own version as well.  I didn't want to spend 4 bucks for chili sauce (which is gluten free [Heinz] from what I understand).  So I had to make my own.  And sis likes them.  So here goes:

Sweet and Spicy Glazed Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 1/2 lb. ground beef, turkey, or combo
1/4 c. millet flour (or whatever non-starchy flour you have on hand)
1 tbsp. apricot jelly
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. chili powder

Sauce:
1/2 c. apricot jelly ( I like Polaner's brand)
1 heaping tbsp. chili powder
dash cayenne, optional
1/3 c. GF ketchup (I use Hunt's because they don't use high fructose corn syrup)
1/4 c. water
2 tbsp. starch (arrowroot, corn, tapioca, potato...)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix meatballs and form into 1 inch balls.  Bake for 20-23 minutes or until cooked through with no red/pink.  (turkey may look slightly pink regardless)
While they are baking, whisk sauce ingredients in a small saucepan.  Simmer over medium heat til all ingredients are dissolved and sauce thickens slightly.  Serve over rice.