Spring rolls with spicy soy sauce, a very light dinner
Tonight's meal marked the start of a new path I have taken. Though I will still cook as I always have I want to share with you all what I have embarked upon. Think of it as a paradigm shift that many more people are taking every day. This is a shift in how we eat and where we get our food. It is a conscious effort to eat food good for our bodies.
I have enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. For the next year or two I will learn over 100 dietary theories, learning to listen to what my body wants and needs, and then going out to spread the word about eating and living well to others. I have been called to make a change not only for myself but to use my desire to inspire others to make positive changes for themselves. We are learning that diets don't work no matter how healthy they sound. Our bodies crave foods for different reasons, but most importantly our bodies, not our brains know what it is that we need. It is our brains that translate these needs into foods that we eat.
For the past few years I have transformed my kitchen into a place that supports this type of cooking from changing all my spices, dry stores, and condiments to support many types of cuisines. Whether I knew it or not I have been preparing for this for a long time.
Tonight is spring rolls with a spicy soy sauce. The rice papers can be found in oriental aisles in many grocery stores that have an international aisle.
These round papers can be tricky to work with but if you take a few steps shown here they will not be quite so difficult to work with. You will need a clean towel about the size of a wash cloth. I use a small cookie sheet filled with just enough water to soak each sheet as you work with it.
Prepare your filling ingredients: shredded carrots, cucumber, bean sprouts, red peppers, fresh herbs like cilantro and mint and some cooked brown rice that has been cooled to room temperature. You may also use some cellophane noodles that have also been cooked and cooled as an alternative. I have a utensil that can julienne the carrots and cucumber into strands as fine noodles. This is the texture you want for these spring rolls.
Find a small platter for the finished rolls and put 2 layers of dampened paper towels on top. As you make each roll you will put it under the paper towels to keep them from drying out.
Take a rice paper and place it in the cookie sheet with the water. Let it soften for about a minute. Don't wait too long or it will fall apart. Carefully pick it up at 10 and 2 o'clock and move it over to the cloth. Lay it down and straighten it out. If you have sesame seeds, sprinkle some on the rice paper first. (I forgot so I added them later, but it is pretty if you do it first). Take a 1/4 cup of rice or a small handful as if you were making sushi rolls and place the rice on the lower third of the rice paper. Add some of the other ingredients being careful not to add too much because it will be hard to roll tightly. When I can find mint I like to add that also, but today I only had fresh cilantro. For a little protein you can add cooked shrimp to these for a nice touch. I always keep a bag of cooked frozen shrimp in the freezer for rolls like these.
Begin rolling by rolling up from the bottom over the mound first, then carefully fold over the right and left sides then roll the rest of the way. That's it! It takes a little practice to get the hang of it. I like to make about 8 at a time since it is just the two of us. For a little style, cut your rolls on an extreme bias so they are stylish on the plate...just like in the restaurants. Use a serrated or very sharp knife to cut the rolls.
Make a sauce for dipping. You could use a ginger or peanut sauce or a spice soy sauce as I have here.
The recipe comes from Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger cookbook. I really like the sauces and dips in the back of his book. I think these are his go to condiments. They are mine too.
Without actually copying the recipe but giving credit for its source, the spicy soy sauce could be made using tamari, a no wheat soy alternative by using a 1/3rd cup of light soy and also rice vinegar. Add a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil and also sambal oelek, a spicy red pepper condiment now carried by most stores. Add about a 1/3 cup of chopped green onion tops and there is your dipping sauce.
Add these comdiments to your pantry the next time you are at the store:
Gomasio: a combination of sesame seeds, sea salt, and dried seaweed. Found in health aisles or international Japanese aisle.
Sambal oelek: Thai section. This is a firey red pepper condiment that is used to make dipping sauces in many asian cuisines. It is a versatile condiment that lasts forever. Keep in the fridge.
Toasted sesame oil: Asian section. This is a flavoring that is great in sauces or as a finishing oil in stir fries. I also use sesame oil for stir fries which is not labeled as toasted. The toasted has a wonderful flavor.
I hope you will give these a try. You may want to have some hot cloths available when everyone finishes the spring rolls as they can be a little messy. This is a part of the fun. Many cultures eat food with their hands. Give it a try.
My messages for you today are:
Ask yourself what you can change in your eating that is better for you.
Choose organic more and more. There are infinite reasons why.
Take time to eat and savor your food. Don't gulp it down. See how much better it tastes.
Give thanks for where it came from and who you partake with.
Start today.
bonnie
variety is the spice of life...
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