Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls with Shrimp

These are a staple for us. Granted, they are a bit time consuming and the spring-roll sheets are tricky to work with (Taylor handles them like a master!), but it’s a healthy, refreshing dish perfect as an appetizer or as a stand alone meal. We like to serve them with rice noodles or other asian noodles.

Delicious, refreshing, and satisfying only begin to describe these. They are well worth the effort and will definitely impress! You can easily substitute tofu for the shrimp to make them vegetarian and just as yummy!

Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls with Shrimp

INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
16 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 cups hot water
8 6-inch-diameter Vietnamese spring-roll sheets (you can find these at Asian food markets)
4 small Bibb lettuce leaves, halved
1/2 cup thin strips green onions
1/2 cup thin strips seeded peeled cucumber
1/2 cup thin strips carrots
4 teaspoons minced fresh mint leaves

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger; sauté until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add shrimp and cilantro; sauté until shrimp are just cooked through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour hot water into large bowl. Using tongs, dip 1 spring-roll sheet in water 5 seconds. Remove from water; place on wet towel. Let stand 30 seconds (spring-roll sheet should be soft and pliable; if still stiff, sprinkle with more water).

Place half of lettuce leaf across top third of spring-roll sheet. Arrange 4 shrimp halves on lettuce. Top with 1 tablespoon each of green onions, carrots, and cucumber. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon mint over filling. Fold sides of spring-roll sheet over ends of filling. Starting at filled side, roll into cylinder. Place on plate. Repeat with remaining spring-roll sheets, lettuce, shrimp, green onions, cucumber, carrots and mint. Serve with sauce.

Gnocchi with Spring Herb Pesto

Extreme Green Dinner: part 2. Quick tip: buy pre-packaged or frozen gnocchi. You’ll save a TON of time, as gnocchi are really hard to make and even harder to make well. We get ours at Trader Joe’s. Mmmm!

Gnocchi with Spring Herb Pesto

Recipe from Emeril. We didn’t put arugula in the pesto, I’m not a big fan of it. But, it might have actually been pretty good! This recipe makes ALOT of pesto – I did about half this recipe and no arugula and there was plenty of sauce. Unless of course, you like a lot of sauce… then go for it!
Makes 4-6 servings.

INGREDIENTS
4 cups baby arugula
4 cups basil leaves
1 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
Salt and pepper
1 pound fresh gnocchi

DIRECTIONS
In the bowl of a food processor, combine arugula, basil, pine nuts, Parmesan, and garlic. With the motor running, add 1 cup olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, add gnocchi. Cook until they rise to the surface, just a few minutes for fresh pasta. Drain well, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.

In a large pan or bowl, combine pesto with remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and reserved pasta water. Pesto should become a sauce-like consistency. Add gnocchi and toss to combine. Serve, garnished with extra cheese.

Spring Green Salad with Orange-Fennel Vinaigrette

This was a nice, refreshing salad. A change from our typical croutons and balsamic salad.

Spring Green Salad with Orange-Fennel Vinaigrette

Makes 8 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup fresh blood orange juice or fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons (packed) grated orange peel
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh fennel bulb
2 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds
3 blood oranges or seedless oranges
12 cups torn assorted salad greens (such as arugula, watercress, mâche, and endive) or 1 1/2 five-ounce bags mixed baby greens
1 cup chopped green onions
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted

DIRECTIONS
Whisk orange juice, shallots, thyme, orange peel, and honey in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil, then fennel and fennel fronds. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk before using.)

Cut peel and white pith from oranges. Working over bowl, cut between membranes to release orange segments from pith.

Combine assorted greens, green onions, and toasted walnuts in large bowl. Drain orange segments and add to salad. Toss salad with enough dressing to coat evenly. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Mango & Avocado Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

These were yummy, refreshing, and oh-so-good. Taylor revised his kick-butt peanut sauce to be even more kick-butt (if you can believe it). It’s basically the same recipe, but sans garlic salt, and adding in a tablespoon (or so depending on your heat-tolerance) of Mongolian Fire Oil. Delicious.

Mango & Avocado Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Makes 2-3 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 seedless cucumber, cut into matchsticks
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 avocado, sliced and tossed with lime juice
1 cup lettuce, shredded
fresh basil, chopped
fresh cilantro, chopped
1 package cellophane noodles
Rice paper wrappers

DIRECTIONS
Cook cellophane noodles according to package directions. Rinse with cool water and let drain. Toss with rice vinegar and sugar, set aside.

Soften a rice wrapper in hot water. Arrange a small amount of noodles and other filling items on wrapper, and gently roll. Repeat with remaining wrappers until filling ingredients are gone. Slice carefully with serrated knife on a bias. Drizzle (or dip in) peanut sauce, and serve.