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.

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
  

Stuffed Peppers

Thursday night, I decided to experiment with Stuffed Peppers. This is something that I've always enjoyed eating when other have made them, but have never been able to successfully reproduce on my own. Something always seems to be off.

The inspiration for trying to make them this time was about half a pound of ground pork and some raw tomato sauce leftover from pizza night. It was taking up room in the fridge and needed to be eaten. Kimberly suggested the stuffed peppers, so I went for it.

The first step was buying 4 kind-of-large green peppers, with a wide base so they would stand up in the oven.

I consulted our Cook's Illustrated cookbook for their recipe; I mostly used it as a guide, but the 2 things I used directly were pre-steaming/boiling the peppers and cooking rice in the style of pasta (by this, I mean boiling it in an excessive amount of water then draining, rather than doing the 2-to-1 water to rice ration for 'perfect' rice cooking). Additionally, I was going to use bread crumbs as a binder for my stuffing, but decided to use the rice instead, at the suggestion of Kimberly and of the cookbook.

For the peppers, I cut off and cleaned the tops (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 an inch), then floated them in a big pot of boiling water until they started softening. Once I removed them from the water, I cooked the rice in the same water for about 15 minutes, until tender, then drained.

For the stuffing, I sauted the diced pepper tops, half a diced onion, and a couple cloves of diced garlic in a few drops of evoo and some s&p, until starting to soften . Then I added the previously cooked ground pork (maybe 1/2 #) and the left over raw tomato sauce ('crushed' can tomato, about 1/2 c). I let the mix warm through, then added the cooked rice and a few handfuls of shredded cheese (I think it was a 'Mexican' blend). I also added some spices - I think basil, thyme, and oregano, and a couple pinches of cayenne pepper for a kick. s&p to taste.

I stuffed each pepper until it was overflowing - it turns out that we had the perfect amount for the four peppers. I topped each with another pinch of cheese, then cooked in a 9x9 oven pan at 350 for about 30 minutes. We increased the heat to about 400 for the last ew minutes to try to crisp the top of the stuffing, but I don't know if this worked or not. (I've seen the stuffed peppers topped with the cut off tops, but I think I prefer the pepper tops cooked into the stuffing).

I have to say, they came out really good, surprisingly so. The stuffing was hot throughout and perfectly seasoned, something I'm not great at judging. The top of the stuffing and cheese was nice and browned, with the melted cheese in the middle just gooey enough. And the peppers were perfectly cooked - I was worried the pre-boil would make them too soft. We each had one and then split a third. This was a good amount. And it leaves one for lunch on Friday.

Notes and Next time

• I will definetly do the pre-boil on the peppers again.
  
• I also think that cooking the ground meat (maybe turkey, but the prok was good) with the pepper and onion might be nice; but it does seem like this is a good 'clean-out-the-fridge' meal, so that might not be an option.
  
• I think it was a good idea to NOT cook the tomato sauce before adding it to the stuffing mix.
• We could use any cheese, depending on what's left in the fridge.
  
• I really liked the rice in the stuffing, but it would be interesting to see how the bread crumbs work. Although, every time I've used bread crumbs in the past, it's turned out poorly. Maybe I shouldn't be so stubborn and just go with what works.

Ingredients/Recipe

• 1/2 # of ground pork/italian sausage
• 1/2 c rice, cooked in pasta style
  
• 4 green bell peppers, kind of large
  
• onion (half to whole, depending on size)
  
• couple cloves of garlic (to taste)
• raw tomato sauce (crushed from a can), maybe 1/2 c
• spices, to taste
• s&p, to taste
• cheese, shredded