During the semester that Philip and I were engaged, I took an evening History class. It started at six and went until eight. Philip’s sister was also taking an evening class at the same time and was also engaged, so we put our fiance’s in charge of dinner every Wednesday when we both got home late.

At the time we were getting a “Cooking for Two” magazine from Philip’s parents, so we often chose recipes out of the magazines to try out. One particular night, the boys decided to try a recipe for White Sausage Spaghetti for Wednesday night dinner. D and I got home from our late class to delicious smells and a table set and ready to eat. Unfortunately, the recipe was just not that good. We politely ate as much as we could, with D picking out the mushrooms, and me picking out the mushrooms and the olives. It had an alfredo sauce that was SO rich, and overall it just wasn’t that great. This was not the fault of the boys, who had followed the recipe to a T – it was just the recipe.

We didn’t try the recipe again for a long time, until Philip mentioned that he had really enjoyed it and would like to try it again. We did, and this time I loved it! And now it’s become one of our once-a-month meals. And I even like mushrooms now.

Because of this hate-to-love experience I’m always nervous with a new recipe that it’s just a fluke that I did or didn’t love it. My mom bought me a subscription to Real Simple magazine last year, and I always look through the back for new recipes. I found recipe in last month’s edition:

Chicken and Cashews in Lettuce Cups

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
Pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced
1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/4 cup roasted unsalted cashews
1 small head Boston or Bibb lettuce, leaves separated

Combine the soy sauce and honey in a small bowl; set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown, about 3 minutes.

Lower heat to medium and stir in the garlic and ginger. Add the scallions and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the water chestnuts and half the soy sauce mixture and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and sprinkle with the cashews.

Divide the lettuce leaves among individual plates and spoon the chicken over the top. Serve with the remaining soy sauce mixture for drizzling.

I made this recipe about a month ago, and Philip and I both LOVED it. I was nervous to make it again though, cause what if he hated them second time around?!? After we had it, he told me they were the best lettuce wraps he’d EVER had (he told me this after we ate some on my birthday last year…ones that I didn’t make). So I finally made them again last night. And people, these are AMAZING. Even the second time. Go start cooking right now. They are so easy. All of the ingredients are probably things you have sitting in your fridge/pantry right now.

So no time to waste….start cooking! And now after writing this post I’m incredibly hungry. Mmm…brownies??