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.

Risotto

While in Italy, we had risotto a few times and raved about it each time. The first time was during our stay in the agriturismo in Assisi.. Later, in Milan, our cousin Guido made risotto for us. This morning, over breakfast, Peter came up with the brilliant idea to make risotto for dinner tonight.
The grocery store had nice looking asparagus and shrimp, so we decided to add those to the risotto. We started with arborio rice. We sauted shallot in some butter. Then we added in the rice and stirred it until the rice became translucent. Once the rice had turned, we added about a cup of white wine (we used a chardonnay from Australia) and let it cook until the pan dried out. Then we added about 1.5 cups of homemade chicken stock. We let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stock had completely absorbed. After the initial stock, we added the rest in ladleful amounts, letting it absorb between each addition. Once the rice was almost done, we stirred in blanched asparagus and cooked shrimp. Then, after the rice had finished cooking and the asparagus/shrimp had heated through, we added parmesean.

Notes and Next Time

• Guido used red wine too
• peas might be nice
• saffron would be pretty
• cooked pancetta could add a nice flavor
• as could mushrooms
  

Ingredients/Recipe

• arborio rice
• broth
• shallot/garlic/onion
• butter
• asparagus
• shrimp (small bay or salad shrimp)
• white wine