What do you cook when you (tragically), have no butter, nor eggs, nor chocolate, nor onions, and you are too lazy to bike 4 miles to the grocery store? Spring rolls! These fresh rice paper rolls allow for an infinite number of filling variations. I happened to have carrots, lettuce, avocado,cilantro and parsley, ground beef, and a neglected eggplant tucked in the back of the fridge. Fear not the assembly! Rice paper is forgivingly stretchy for over-filled rolls, and is cheap enough that a torn sheet is no great loss. If all else fails, make a salad. No one will mind, as the herbaceous notes and roasted pea-nutty sauce wonderfully accentuate fresh vegies; no matter if they're rolled or forked. Rolls Rice Paper Sheets-pack of at least 20 1/4 cup of cilantro minced 1/4 cup of parsley minced 2 cups of shredded lettuce, romaine 1 medium eggplant 1 cup of grated carrots 1 avocado sliced I lb. of ground beef 1 clove garlic sliced Sauce 3 cloves garlic minced 1 tablespoon fish sauce 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice 1 tablespoon peanut butter 1.5 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 1/2 cup water 1/2 teaspoon corn starch Garnish lime or lemon wedges For the rolls, prepare a pie tin of hot water. Chop and grate all vegetables as specified. Heat a pan on medium and add ground beef and one sliced garlic clove. Cook 5 minutes, stirring periodically until thoroughly cooked. Remove the beef to a separate bowl and drain away most of the tallow. Add the chopped eggplant 1/4 cup of water and cook 6 minutes until soft. To assemble the rolls, hold 2 rice wrappers at once, and submerge them in the hot water for no longer than 30 seconds. Drape them onto a cool surface ( I used a clean countertop), quickly fill with herbs, carrots, avocado, lettuce, and a small pinch of beef and eggplant each. Roll the wrapper around the filling, tucking in the loose ends as you go. For the sauce, combine cool water and cornstarch in a sauce pan. Whisk until dissolved. Add all other ingredients, and bring to a boil, stirring as the cornstarch thickens the sauce. Turn off heat ,and allow to cool.
Serve rolls along with sauce and lime or lemon wedges.
1 Comment
Valentinas
8/23/2015 07:10:46 am
The spring rolls were great. I used Sweet Soy Sauce together with these wonderful spring rolls! Definitely worth a try!
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M. RudieneI grew up in rural Wisconsin...moved to Corpus Christi to attend college... and have now moved to the Bronx with my wonderful husband! Categories
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