Month: September 2010

More Spring Rolls, with some new dipping sauces

Spring Rolls are becoming one of our all-time favorite meals lately.  They’re very vegetarian-friendly (although it’s easy to add meat, for any carnivores that would like it,) there’s not much “cooking” involved (although there is lots of chopping!) and they’re light and healthy.

I made a “fancy” version last night, with a few extra ingredients and dipping sauces.

The ingredients that I used (in large tray) are:

rice noodles, sauteed sliced mushrooms, shredded romaine lettuce, thinly sliced red onion, sliced avocado, mung bean sprouts (that I grew myself!,) julienned red bell pepper, cucumber and carrot, grilled Teriyaki chicken, shrimp, baby corn and chopped water chestnuts.

I also had some fresh chopped chives and peanuts and cilantro and mint leaves to add as garnish inside the rolls.

The new dipping sauces that I tried were Hoisin dipping sauce and a peanut dipping sauce.  The third one is the spicy/sweet sauce that we’ve used before.  The spicy-sweet sauce is still Hubby’s favorite, but the kids and I LOVED the peanut sauce, so I will definitely be making that one again in the future.  Deee-lish.

For quantity/planning purposes, in case you decide to make this, I used two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (marinated in Teriyaki sauce, then grilled and sliced) and about a cup of thawed, frozen, pre-cooked shrimp.  I made a half-batch of the peanut sauce (single batches of the other two.)  I used one can each of the water chestnuts and baby corn, one avocado, about a cup of sprouts, about 1/4 of a red onion, about 1/4 lb of mushrooms (sliced and sauteed in butter/olive oil until softened and golden) and one romaine lettuce heart.  I used half of an 8 ounce package of rice sticks/rice vermicelli noodles and less than one package of spring roll wrappers.

I was serving 6 people, one of whom is a vegetarian and two others of whom do not eat shrimp, but everyone at their fill and there were enough ingredients leftover to make 6 more vegetarian spring rolls (the meat was all gone) the next day.  I also served some steamed, in-the-shell edamame along with this.  If you’re serving REALLY hungry people, you might not have many/any leftovers.

Chicken Cutlets with Chickpea and Pesto Salad

Recipe here.

The Chickpea-Pesto Salad came together in two seconds flat and was a nice entree for Vegetarian Girl.  We adapted the chicken a bit for the carnivores in the crowd…I cut two boneless, skinless chicken breasts into three pieces each and then dredged them in flour, then beaten egg, then in a mixture of half plain bread, half panko, spiced up with a touch of dried parsley, dried thyme and just a touch of paprika and garlic powder.  I fried them in half butter/half olive oil.

This was quite yummy and SUPER easy.  I made half of the chicken to serve with the red lentil-kohlrabi-couscous salad from last night and the other half for tonight.  Two chicken breasts to serve two meals to three people?  Awesome!  I cut them up like this, before breading and frying.

I used the “gluten-free” tag for the chickpea salad.  The chicken cutlets are not gluten-free, unless you use some sort of gluten-free breadcrumbs (in which case, you’re home free!)

Curried Red Lentil, Kohlrabi, and Couscous Salad

Recipe here.

This was quite yummy (the dressing, in particular, is delicious,) but the recipe makes WAY too much.  We will be eating this for days.  Lots of commenters have said the same thing on epicurious, but I didn’t (thumping forehead) actually read them before executing this recipe.  So, unless you’re having a huge party or are attending a vegetarian potluck, you should make half the batch.

Other commenters also mentioned that the red lentils took less time to cook than the recipe said and that is definitely true.  In fact, I really think a lentil with more bite would be better in this recipe.  Plain brown ones would be great.  I think French green ones (my usual favorite) would be too peppery and strong and would overpower the kohlrabi.

The final product of this recipe is very dependent upon the quality of your curry powder.  If you can’t remember when you bought your jar, throw it out.  And then buy some of this.  Or this, if you like it spicier.

Also?  Kohlrabi is weird.  Tasty.  But weird.  My kohlrabi didn’t have the leaves, so I just omitted that step from the recipe.

Smoky Black Bean Quesadillas

Recipe, from Deborah Madison’s fabulous Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone book, here.

These were VERY messy, but quite delicious.  I think 1/3 cup of the bean mixture is a bit much for one quesadilla, as it does run out quite a bit as you cook them.  I would recommend either using wheat tortillas, because they’re a little larger, or using less of the bean dip, if you’re sticking with the corn tortillas.

Also, I used the juice of 3 limes (the recipes states 2 or 3,) but the dip was pretty tangy, so I’ll use 2 next time.  It could also benefit from a tiny bit more cumin and maybe just a tiny bit of oregano.

With those slight modifications, we will definitely be making this quick and easy dip again.  It would be great inside a veggie wrap, too.

Greek Salad

Adapted from a recipe from our friend, A.F., who adapted it from a recipe in the Pittsburgh Steelers cookbook.  It is flavorful and delicious and can be a salad course, but is also hearty enough (add a loaf of crusty bread) to be a meal on its own.

Greek Salad

1 head leaf lettuce (or 5 ounces packaged baby greens)

1 6-ounce package crumbled feta cheese (or a 6-ounce block, cut into small cubes)

1 12-ounce jar Kalamata olives, drained

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes (cut in half, if desired)

1 seedless cucumber

(peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeded and sliced into half-inch wide half-moons)

Dressing:

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1 heaping Tbsp dried mint

1 heaping Tbsp dried oregano

6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Lay lettuce or greens in the bottom of a very large salad bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the herbs and spices, and lemon juice.  Pour the olive oil in, in a slow stream, whisking constantly and quickly until fully incorporated and slightly thickened.

Pour desired amount of dressing over salad (you may not need it all) and toss gently to coat.  Top with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and feta.

Serve immediately.