Salad Rolls (also called Summer Rolls)

By request, we had salad rolls for dinner tonight. They were a big hit, as always, which I also always seem to forget. It surprises me every time how much the kids seem to enjoy them. I think the best rolls are fairly simple with lots of fresh crunchy flavors. The kids lean toward the sweeter veggies and always the fried tofu. My 8 year old can roll her own successfully while the 3 year old dictates the ingredients for hers and then always undoes it and eats it all separately anyways.

Notes and Next Time

• Don't forget to get more herbs! This time we only had mint in the garden (the mint forest has recovered well from the massive haircut it got last month) but I like the rolls better with basil or cilantro to offset the mint pungency.
• My kids and I managed to eat an entire block of tofu. We probably need more (or some lightly chilled cooked chicken or shrimp) if PEter is home as well.
• The window between still crunchy rice paper wrappers and overly soft wrappers is short. Don't get distracted!

Ingredients/Recipe

• rice paper wrappers - at least a few each
• mung bean noodles (or super fine rice noodles) -a small amount soaked in hot water until they expand and soften (maybe 5 minutes), then drained and refrigerated
• cucumber, julienned
• red pepper, julienned
• carrot, julienned
• herb leaves, julienned if you like, otherwise picked off the branches (basil, mint, cilantro are great)
• romaine or butter lettuce
• tofu, cut into strips and fried in sesame oil until lightly crispy
• other odds and ends from the crisper drawer (I had avocado and the leaves off of some radishes from the garden)
• sauces - sweet chili, hosin, peanut 

Step 1: (this is the longest step, give yourself plenty of time!) Cut EVERYTHING!!! Slice and dice and put all the ingredients out onto platters so that you can plop it all into the center of the table.

Step 2: Fill a pie plate with water (Pro tip: put the pie plate on the table first and then fill with water unless you enjoy drying your floor)

Step 3: Call everyone to the table! This is a "Assemble it yourselves" meal.

Step 4: place one rice paper wrapper in the water and let soften. Using warm or hot water speeds up this process but it also shortens the window from just done to mushy so be careful. Take the paper out BEFORE you think it is done as it will continue to soften during your assembly. Put it on your dinner plate and the next person can slide theirs in the water to continue the process.

Step 5: Add stuff. Like a burrito, err on the side of fewer filling ingredients else it may burst. Stretch the wrapper as you roll the slides in to secure. 

Step 6: Dip and eat! (note that some (cough, PEter, cough) like to put the sauces inside the roll but I think this is wrong and also too messy)

Good Side Dishes

We like potstickers with these or other small "appetizer" type foods as it makes the whole meal feel like snacks. Remember that you'll need your entire dinner plate to roll so you can't fit many sides on it at the same time. Soup (miso, wonton) is also a nice choice.

Eating local tastes good!

Today, we were busy. And tired. So tired in fact that Peter took a nap while I stared into the fridge and tried to figure out what we were going to eat for dinner. Luckily, I had taken some ground pork (from the happy pig guy who delivers weekly) and it was defrosting. I then looked at the 8 Japanese eggplants we had hanging out in the fridge and the basket of tomatoes from the garden and started to throw things together.

Take some gorund meat (I used ground pork but sausage would be good too) and saute with evoo. I added S & P and some dried herbs but I'd skip that if I was using sausage. Remove it from the pan once browned, but don't drain whatever oil you have leftover. Chop a bunch of eggplant (we had at least a pound of the dark purple Japanese variety - fresh picked from our "farm") and saute in the pan for at least 10 minutes, letting them shrink and brown. Add a little S & P as the cook and toss regularly. Chop a small hot pepper or add some hot pepper flakes (I did both) and add them after the eggplant has reduced and softened. Also chop some cloves of garlin and add once the eggplant is very tender (so the garlic doesn't burn). Then chop a whole heap of tomatoes - I used mostly romas since that's what we grew, but any type would be fine, I'm sure. Add the tomatoes and stir. Reduce heat and stir back in the pork and the juice from that. Put a lid on and let those tomatoes soften and the whole mixture become tender - kinda like a ratatouille (how the heck do you spell that word?). Boil water and cook some pasta - a short shape that is curly will hold the most sauce. When the pasta is ready, chop a lot of fresh basil and mix it in. Then mix pasta and sauce and eat!

Yum yum. And all the ingredients except garlic and oil were local - or homegrown! Hooray!


Notes and Next Time

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Ingredients/Recipe

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Mom's Zucchini Casserole Redux

So there are some good family stories about Mom, one of the most famous being the way she claims to have "followed" a new recipe but yet has changed just about every ingredient and cooking preparation. Needless to say that this trait runs in the family. Last night, inspired by a gorgeous piece of wild, sockeye salmon (a rariety out here in the Middle), I created this side dish by "following" one of Mom's recipes.

Take a summer squash or two (I used 1 yellow zuke and 1 yellow crookneck from our garden) and dice smallish. Saute them with some garlic and olive oil. Once just starting to brown, add the sides of bell peppers (I used 1 red and 1 yellow) and rice (I used left over white rice). Remove from heat and add quartered cherry tomatoes, shredded Parmesan, and herbs (I used fresh thyme and chives from the garden). Then, spoon this into the hollowed out peppers (I cut the side off if possible so I can serve them with the top on the side... just cuz it looks cool. Cut off the tops if it's easier). I tend to make a lot, so I had enough left over to also fill both halves of a hollowed out zuke AND a small ramekin. Bake in a hot oven until done.

This is what you get!!

Notes and Next Time

• any grain would work well, brown rice, quinoa, etc
• I bet other veggies would work too... some spinach or other greens, bits of leftover winter squash (like acorn)
• tomorrow I might add leftover italian sausage and make them the main dish
• I bet different cheeses would also change things up a lot
  

Ingredients/Recipe

• some veg
• some herb
• some grain
• something to bake in (other veg or baking dish)
  
• some cheese