Chicken Pancit Bihon with Stir Fried Lettuce

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When I am thinking about dinner each week, one of our favorite ways to use up any leftover odds and ends of vegetables is to put them in a stir fry. It's quick, easy, and resourceful because I don't have to go to the store or plan out the meal ahead of time. Whatever is in my pantry/fridge goes in the pan!

Which brings me to my next discovery: Did you know you can stir fry lettuce?!?

Yep, you can.

When Pete's Living Greens reached out to me about incorporating their lettuce into a recipe, I knew I wanted to showcase how I use it everyday at home - in a simple stir fry. What I love about their greens is they come still attached to the dirt they are grown in - does it get any fresher than that?! This stir fry is a little different because it uses pancit noodles - a Filipino favorite served at every birthday party, celebration, or everyday dinner at home. 

There are two types of pancit noodles - bihon and canton noodles. Bihon noodles are a thinner rice noodle, canton noodles are thicker and made with eggs. Both are good, but I usually grew up eating bihon noodles!

I have a couple of pancit recipes already on this site (here and here), but both were missing a key ingredient that I discovered recently in my research: oyster sauce. This gives it so much more umami flavor and helps thicken the sauce a little bit to coat the noodles in it.

While I have eaten pancit throughout my life, I have never actually seen it made, but knew the taste had been off in my past recreations of it. Now it tastes exactly like it has growing up! :)

I hope you give this a try next time you have an abundance of leftover veggies. Pancit noodles can be found at most big grocery stores, and for sure at Asian supermarkets. The best part? You don't have to bring a big pot of water to boil to cook the noodles!

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Pancit Bihon with Chicken and Stir Fried Lettuce

serves 4 - 6

Ingredients

• 8 oz pancit bihon noodles
• 1 lb. chicken breast, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 onion, diced 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 cup red cabbage, shredded
• 2 - 3 large carrots, julienned 
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbl oyster sauce
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Soak the noodles in a large bowl filled with warm water for 20 minutes or until soft.

While noodles are soaking, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a deep skillet or wok over medium high heat with oil and add the chicken. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes, and then toss to cook on the other side for an additional 2 - 3 minutes or until cooked through. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside on a plate.

Add more oil if needed to the pan, then add the onion. Cook for a few minutes until almost clear, then add the rest of the mixed vegetables. When vegetables are cooked through, remove from the pan and add to the plate with the cooked chicken.

To the skillet, add the chicken stock, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Bring to a simmer, then add in the softened noodles. Stir to coat, then add in the chicken and vegetables. Stir to combine.

Let simmer for 10 more minutes to evaporate any leftover liquid. 

Toss to combine and serve with lemon wedges.

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Eggplant Adobo

Coming back after the weekend always makes Mondays a bit hard. We worked on the house more (not exactly everyone's definition of fun, but still fun to us!), hosted pizza night at our house with a couple friends, went to a new church, saw The Lost City of Z at the dollar theatre nearby, took Sibbie to a dog park, and went grocery shopping. We also received a few packages in the mail, one of which was our kitchen cabinets that came in yesterday!! There were over 100 packages (that were then stuffed into several large boxes). It should be interesting sorting through all that and putting them together.

I have been dreaming of redoing and having my own kitchen for years. In middle school I started watching home decor shows and have always been fascinated by the transformation of a home once it's given a little TLC. So basically I am over the moon excited for the new kitchen once we install everything! We are doing everything ourselves so we will be putting the cabinets together and replacing the old ones as we build them. We still have to pick out the backsplash and some other things (there will be shiplap I can guarantee 🙂) but I can't wait to see how it all comes together. It's a lot of work and some stress but I can't wait to share the finished kitchen with you someday soon. It won't be designed by Joanna Gaines, but it will have our own personal touch on it!

I'm really excited about the recipe I'm sharing with you today. Growing up, the most exposure I had to Filipino culture was through my mom's mom, my Lola. She immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines when my mom was a kid, and worked in NYC for 3 years before saving up enough money for the rest of her family (my Lolo, mom, and her siblings) to migrate over. She was one incredible lady, and I've written about her on here several times, but definitely not often enough. She would often cook Filipino inspired dishes for us and one of these was chicken adobo. I decided to switch it up a bit and discovered that eggplant adobo is a popular vegetarian version of the traditional chicken or pork adobo. It was so tasty! Kyle loved it too, and we basically inhaled it the other night after a day of running around doing house things. While nothing could compare to Lola's cooking, I think she'd be happy with this veggie version here!

The best weeknight dinners are those that are ready in 20 minutes or less. This eggplant dish comes together in just that, so if you start your rice when you begin slicing your eggplant both should be done at about the same time, and dinner is served! I love finding creative and flavorful ways where vegetables are the star of the dish. What I love about eggplant is that it is so versatile and really absorbs the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Eggplant can intimidate some people, but this recipe is so simple and there is no need to worry about draining it on paper towels ahead of time or over salting it, etc. Plus, I read somewhere that dark purple vegetables are healthy! 

You really should use Chinese or Japanese eggplants (the longer, skinnier eggplants) for this dish. These eggplants are the best for stir frys and pan frying! I found them at my local asian grocery, but they are usually sold at most big grocery stores, too. To slice the eggplant, simply slice the tops and bottoms off of the eggplant, and then (depending on the size of your eggplants) cut it into thirds or in half. Slice each piece in half lengthwise and then each half into 3 or 4 2-inch slices. 

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Eggplant Adobo

serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 2-3 large Japanese or Chinese eggplants, sliced lengthwise into 2 inch pieces (about 5 cups total)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (using more as needed)
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• salt to taste 
• chopped scallions for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Fry sliced eggplant skin side down first in batches, until browned and very soft, about 4-5 minutes per side. Set aside on a large plate lined with paper towels to drain.

Drain the skillet of any excess oil. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a simmer. Add the eggplant back in the pan, and toss with the sauce. Cover and cook on low for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.

Serve hot with white rice and sprinkle with chopped scallions.

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Spaghetti Squash Filipino Pancit

You know what I did this week? I kind of went paleo. Yes--the girl who has never stuck to any sort of diet in any shape or form ever in her life. The girl who loves cheese, and rice, and bread, and pasta. I just wanted a little healthy reset, and since both of my parents are on this diet, I have been hearing about it a lot. My dad keeps telling me new recipe ideas that he "can't believe are paleo" so it convinced me to give it a try. And besides a couple of oreos and one slice of white bread at our apartment's Rudy's BBQ get together by the pool, I have been sticking to it! I have felt really good, (I hate to admit) and I'm not sure if it's because I have cut out carbs or because I haven't had any dairy. 

My idea with going paleo for the week was simply to just eat healthier Monday through Friday (except for Friday night date night obviously), and then splurge a bit more on the weekends. We'll see how long I can keep this up, but don't worry, you won't only be seeing paleo recipes here on this site from now on.

So, tonight we are going to celebrate with a huge, greasy, cheesy, pepperoni, Detroit style pizza at Via 313. We have been wanting to go to this place for weeks, but every time we want to go we come up with some lame excuse not to. The only thing getting me through this "paleo week" has been the goal of Friday night pizza date night. Will this be completely counterintuitive? Probably. But it's worth it.

While this version of Fililpino pancit isn't exactly paleo (the soy sauce is not), it is still a very healthy option that uses spaghetti squash instead of rice noodles. I've been seeing beautiful varieties of squash at the grocery store recently, and I can't wait to use them more in soups and stews as the weather gets cooler.

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Spaghetti Squash Pancit

Ingredients:

• 1 medium spaghetti squash, sliced in half lengthwise and seeds removed
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 large carrots, sliced thin
• 1 cup sliced bok choy or shredded cabbage
• 1 cup cooked chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup scallions, diced
• Salt and pepper
• 2-3 tbl. oil

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Drizzle spaghetti squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet with outsides facing up. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until squash is tender inside.

Pull out the insides with the tines of a fork, and set aside in a large bowl.

In a large skillet, add cooking oil over medium high heat. Add diced onions, and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until onions begin to become soft. Add sliced carrots, and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add bok choy and garlic, and continue cooking until cook choy becomes soft. Add cooked chicken and pancit "noodles" (spaghetti squash). Season with soy sauce, freshly ground pepper, and add some salt if necessary. (Because the squash is naturally slightly sweet, you will need to probably add more salt than regular noodles to balance it out.)

Toss together until all ingredients are fully mixed together.

Remove from pan, and top with the dicedscallions. Let cool slightly before serving.

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