Fresh Spring Rolls/Salad Rolls and Peanut Sauce

These are a revelation. They are so light and tasty--healthy, even. Until you dip them in the savory peanut sauce that is. These rolls are fun and easy to make, yet people will be very impressed with you. You can essentially add anything you like, then just roll it up--sort of like a cross between a burrito and sushi! This recipe is based on one from the fantastic book Quick & Easy Thai by Nancie McDermott. If you don't own it, go get it! All of her recipes are very approachable and delicious.

Salad Rolls

~Print Recipe~

• 8 ounces very thin dried rice noodles
• 12 round rice paper sheets, about 8 inches in diameter
• 2 cups tender lettuce (I used prepackaged butter lettuce)
• 1/2 cup fresh Thai basil or mint
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 5 green onions, cut in 3-inch strips
• Thin cucumber spears (optional)
• Thin carrot spears (optional)
• 18 medium cooked shrimp, halved lengthwise
• Cooked chicken (optional)

1. Boil water in a medium saucepan. Drop in rice noodles and remove from heat. Gently toss and stir the noodles so they cook evenly. Let stand 8 to 10 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well and set aside. Makes about 2 cups of noodles.
2. Arrange prepped ingredients around a cutting board. Have the serving plate ready. Fill a skillet with very warm water.
3. Submerse one rice paper sheet into the warm water for about 15 seconds, until it is soft and pliable. Carefully remove the rice paper, letting it drain, and spread it flat on the cutting board.
4. About a third of the way in, make a horizontal row of each ingredient, except shrimp. Lift the wrapper edge nearest you and roll it up and away from you, tucking the edge in over the pile in the middle. Tightly fold in the sides of the wrapper, to form a little package. Place 3 shrimp halves over the filling, then continue rolling the wrapper tightly. 
5. Press the seam to close the roll, applying a little water if it has dried out. Set the roll on the platter seam side down. Continue until you run out of fillings. Serve with peanut sauce or other dipping sauce.

Makes 10-12 rolls

Peanut Sauce

~Print Recipe~

• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste or mussamun curry paste
• 2 teaspoons roasted chili paste
• 1/2 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

1. Bring coconut milk to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan. Add the curry paste and roasted chili paste. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring to dissolve. 
2. Add the chicken broth, fish sauce, sugar, peanut butter and lime juice. Cook for 1 minute, stirring to smooth.
3. Remove from heat, transfer to a serving bowl and set aside to cool. 

Alexis' Guacamole

Guacamole is a bit of a contentious issue in my house. Everybody has their own way of making it, and while all versions are good, they are quite different. Some cooks are minimalists, others go all out. Either way everybody is usually pretty happy, because how can you not love avocados?! It's hard to go wrong here, but I've sort of honed my guac recipe over the years and feel like it's pretty fantastic.

I've hesitated to post it, but only because I don't usually measure anything. I just add ingredients, stir, taste and repeat until I've hit the right balance. I think it's good to put your own personal spin on guacamole, so please, my all means---go wild. The avocados we bought recently were particularly tasty, so you should probably go out and buy some right now.

I'd be very interested to hear what your favorite guacamole recipe includes, especially if you add something I don't...

Alexis' Guacamole

~Print Recipe~

•  2 ripe medium avocados
• 1/4  of a medium white onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced (or garlic pressed)
• Leaves from approximately 20 sprigs of cilantro, torn or chopped
• Juice from 1/2 lime
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup of your favorite salsa (I use hot Pace)
• 4 to 6 drops of El Yucateco Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
• A couple of good shakes of Trader Joe's Jalapeno Hot Sauce
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste (optional; I didn't put any in my last batch)

1. In a medium bowl, mash avocados with a fork. Mark likes to leave it kind of chunky and I tend to go a little smoother. 
2. Add remaining ingredients individually, stirring and tasting after each addition. Add more of whatever you feel it needs.  If you think your guac is missing something, I've found that usually salt is the magic ingredient. Don't be afraid to add more.
3. Serve with a cilantro garnish and fresh homemade tortilla chips.  There is very little in this life that is more satisfying than good guacamole with fresh, warm tortilla chips!

Salmon with Orange-Hoisin Sauce and Bok Choy

Mark and I don't eat a lot of fish, but not because we don't like it. It's just a little pricier than, say, the tempeh at Trader Joe's. But, we decided to "splurge" and get this salmon from New Seasons (my favorite grocery store of all time and one of my favorite places in Portland, period) to celebrate the new year. In the end, two large fillets set us back a whopping $11.50. Then again, when you really think about it, that breaks down to $5.75 a piece for a healthy and delicious meal, which I consider to be a good value.

One recent morning, pasting the recipes I'd cut out of my food magazines (Bon Appetit, Saveur, and old issues of Gourmet) into my cooking notebook, I came across a Bon Appetit recipe for Salmon with Hoisin, Orange and Bok Choy. The title alone ensured that I would have to make it---it just sounds too delicious to pass up. Then there was the fact that I needed a good salmon recipe---usually when Mark and I just wing it, the results are edible, but less than stellar. (Fish is not a food category that either of us has mastered.) And I am always intrigued by new ingredients; though I'd read about it, I'd never prepared anything with bok choy before.

Done deal. Except when the time came, I forgot the green onion and we subbed a white one instead. I also I got a little carried away with the orange zest and juice. (I'm usually the kind of person who assumes if a little is good, more is better! Which is not always the case...) BUT, I bought a whole orange just for this salmon---I didn't want to waste it, you see. Well, don't make the same mistake (stick to the quantities listed below) as the orange in my version dominated the other more delicate flavors.

As for the bok choy: it was good and I'm glad to have tried it, but it is not my new favorite.

NOTE: Hoisin can be found at Asian markets. I recommend having a bottle on hand for stir fries, marinades and the like. Savory-sweet goodness. Also, the picture here is of the salmon before it went into the oven. The photos of the finished project were a bit blurry. Sorry!

Salmon with Orange-Hoisin Sauce and Bok Choy

~Print Recipe~

• 2 heads of baby bok choy, each cut length-wise into 6 wedges
• 2  5-or 6-ounce salmon fillets
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced---or about 1/4 of a white onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced, peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon (only!) finely grated orange peel
• Pinch of salt
  
• 3/4 teaspoon cracked coriander seeds (I used a few pinches of ground coriander)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (or more, to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Form a bed of bok choy in the center of two large sheets of tin foil.  (Make sure they are large enough to seal over your bok choy and salmon.) Center your salmon fillets over the bok choy. 
2. In a small bowl, mix orange juice, onion, hoisin, ginger and orange peel. Spoon sauce over fish, dividing equally. Sprinkle with salt and coriander. Top with cilantro. 
3. Fold foil together and pinch to seal tightly above the fish and at each end. Place packets on a baking sheet and bake 12-14 minutes, or until the fish is opaque in the center. Plate and serve.

(Serves 2)

Persian Kidney Beans

I first made these years ago for an Iranian themed book club meeting. I had no idea how they would turn out and I had 15 people coming over, so I really hoped it would be good. The great thing about this dish is that it is simple and inexpensive to make. And it will serve a ton of people. The flavor combination is maybe a little different, but to me onions, garlic, cumin, jalapeno and citrus is redolent of Mexican cooking. The cinnamon is really what gives it a more exotic touch.

It all worked out fine that night, but for some reason I hadn't come back to this recipe. Then, flipping through one my new cookbooks, Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven, I found this recipe again. I compared it to the one I'd made earlier from Allrecipes.com and they are strikingly similar. Here is my own conglomeration of the two. Plus the addition of cilantro, because we had some, it goes well with the flavors and spices in the dish and it seems like fresh herbs always take a dish to the next level.

Persian Kidney Beans
~PRINT RECIPE~

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3-5 gloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups orange juice (to taste)
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1 can tomato paste
• 4 cans kidney beans, rinsed
  
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 1/2 each lime and orange zest (optional. Zest before juicing!)
  
• Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
• Black pepper to taste (optional)
• Torn fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
• Pita bread

1. Heat the oil in a deep sauce pan or Dutch oven. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the garlic, salt, cumin and cinnamon. Saute for 5 more minutes.
2. Stir in the orange and lime juice. Add the tomato paste and stir until well combined. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
3. Add the beans, the jalapeno, the citrus zest and red pepper flakes. Stir often and cook for 20 more minutes over low heat.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings, then serve hot topped with more zest, red pepper flakes and fresh cilantro and pita bread to the side.

*Despite the jalapeno and red pepper flakes, this dish is not particularly spicy.