Meat-Free Lettuce Wraps!

Ingredients: 1lb Tempeh 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced a dash of each of sea salt & pepper 3 large cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup shredded carrot 1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled & minced or shredded 2 Tablespoons sesame oil 3 Tablespoons Tamari soy sauce 2 Tablespoon each water and rice vinegar 3 Tablespoon natural peanut butter 3 Tablespoons plum sauce 1 Tablespoon dried red chile flakes 6 green onions, chopped 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained & chopped 1/4 cup peanuts, chopped (alternately you can use 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds) 10-12 large butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry Directions: Heat a large, non-stick skillet on high. Add 1 TBSP sesame oil, Tempeh, onion, garlic, salt & pepper, and carrot… Cook until onion is translucent, stirring often to break up the Tempeh. Add in ginger, and continue cooking 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, combine remaining sesame oil, soy sauce, water, peanut butter, rice vinegar, plum sauce, and chili flakes. Microwave for 20-30 seconds, then stir until smooth. Add into the skillet and stir to combine. Add green onion and water chestnuts into the skillet then cook for 2-3 minutes until the green onions are soft and the water chestnuts are heated through. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, and serve with the cold lettuce leaves, to wrap filling in.

Aunt Wendy's Dippy Sauce

Get yourself some pretty glass bottles somewhere like at Michaels (craft store). The bigger, the better. I favor the ones that DON'T have corks, because cork degrades... Try for the ones with the beer-style flip-open tops! Next you wash up some fresh lemons and grate the tiniest bit off the outside (so the flavor is better) and cut them into slices so thin you can see through them. ROLL the slices to fit them into one bottle. When your bottle is good and packed, pour your favorite olive oil over the lemon slices. Next for the vinegar, get some fresh tarragon (and/or oregano and/or basil) and stuff the prettiest bits in your second bottle. Top off with half balsamic and half red wine vinegar. It takes about a week for the flavors to really infuse -- but once they DO, you can pour the two over a salad and just add a touch of salt & pepper, and it's YUMMY!!! Not to mention, when the oil is gone, re-use the lemons (but just once)!!! My favorite part is this -- If you put a bottle of each in a pretty basket, you now have a lovely home-made house-warming or holiday gift for someone. Believe me, they WILL like it! The name for this recipe comes from the fact that my Aunt Wen REQUIRES this as her Christmas present... And THEN she won't put it on a salad, no... She pours a little from each bottle onto a plate, and scoops it up on bread. She says this way, you get to savor it better -- LOL! DIPPY SAUCE!