Quick! Go buy cherries! Now!!!

They are only in season for a very short while. ;o) I love sweet cherries...Rainier are my favorite but Bing run a close second. One of my favorite recipes to make, every summer, is Cherry Chicken Lettuce Wraps. You can use water chestnuts instead of cherries & it's a pretty dang good recipe still but don't do it unless you can't get cherries. ;o)

I was out of carrots so this time, I subbed thinly sliced celery ....don't know if it changed anything other than teh appearance. Because the orange color does add a lot to the aesthetics, I served them w/ sliced oranges. And I always use leftover chicken instead of making it up special for this recipe. I am a huge fan of morphing leftovers so I like to grill, roast, saute or broil an extra cut of meat or fish to use in another dish. You can also also use rotissirie chicken from the grocery store...either way, just add the ginger to the sauce. And I think butter lettuce is best for this recipe...it's crunchy but still pliable enough to wrap w/out breakage. Do y'all ever buy those living lettuces? I love them...they'll stay fresh for almost 3 weeks!

Cherry Chicken Lettuce Wraps

INGREDIENTS ...
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoon honey
1 pound dark sweet cherries, pitted and halved
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/3 cup toasted and sliced almonds
12 leaves of lettuce

DIRECTIONS...
1.Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ginger and chicken and saute until cooked through, about 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
2.In a large bowl, whisk together remaining 1 tablespoon oil, vinegar, teriyaki sauce and honey until mixed together. Add chicken mixture, cherries, carrot, green onion and almonds; toss together.
3.To Serve: Spoon 1/12 of the chicken/cherry mixture onto the center of each lettuce leaf; roll up leaf around filling and serve.

Serves 6
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So many cherry recipes, so little time!