Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups cooked white or brown rice
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar and 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil, optional
• 2 heads iceberg lettuce

Directions

1. Put the ground chicken and garlic into a large microwave-safe bowl. Cook it in the microwave, pausing to stir now and then, until the chicken has lost its pink color, about 5 – 6 minutes. Pour away the accumulated liquid, then transfer the chicken mixture to a 5 – 7 quart slow cooker.
2. Add the chopped pepper and onion, then spoon in the hoisin and soy sauce. Sprinkle in 1/2 tsp salt plus 1/2 tsp pepper, and stir until everything is evenly coated. Cover the cooker, set it to low heat, and cook for 2 – 3 hours; the chicken should be tender.
3. Add the water chestnuts and the cooked rice, then mix in the green onions. Stir the rice vinegar and sesame oil through the filling as well, and keep cooking until everything is hot, 3 – 5 minutes. Taste, then season with more salt as desired.
4. Pull apart the iceberg lettuce leaves and bring them to the table with the chicken filling. Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution, Vol. 2, pg. 115.