Not Sushi, Spring Rolls!

Another recipe makeover, this time another jewel from Heidi Swanson.  I really love her stuff.  I just wish I always had her ingredients on hand!!  This time, I made over her Avocado Spring Rolls recipe.  I wish I could have just made hers, but I didn't have any tofu or fresh oregano, so I just ended up stuffing my wrappers with sushi filling.  They tasted just like sushi, but without the seafood flavor from the nori.  The rice papers are ridiculously chewy and sticky - which may be a plus or a minus, depending on your sensitivity to texture.  I liked them just fine, although they were more work than regular sushi, and I kind of missed the nori.  Oh well, we must have options!!

edit - I ate these last 3 after a few hours in the fridge, and the wrappers were quite firm and hardly sticky at all - a much better texture than they had fresh.  If you aren't a fan of sticky, just chill them and try again!

Serve these as a healthy alternative to deep fried appetizers at your next party, or pack 2 or 3 with your lunch along with a salad or miso soup!

Not Sushi, Spring Rolls!

28 Spring Roll Skins (Banh Trang) available at Asian grocers, and in well stocked Krogers (1 package is plenty)
7 Cabbage leaves (see instructions)
2 avocados
28 pickled ginger slices

1 C diced, cooked chicken thigh (about 2 medium, 130g, 4.5oz)
3 C cooked sticky/short grain rice
3 T seasoned rice vinegar

Preparation:

Peel the outer few leaves from the cabbage, then remove the core to loosen the next several leaves.  Try to peel 7 leaves off, leaving each intact as much as possible.  Rinse each in cool water - leaving them damp - then place in a large microwave-safe bowl - nesting them is fine.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and heat on high power for 5 minutes.  Remove from microwave, but leave covered to continue steaming while you prepare the other ingredients.

Slice both avocados in half, remove the seed by striking sharply with a large knife, then twisting, and scoop each half out of the skin with a large soup spoon.  Place all 4 halves cut-side down on a cutting board, and slice each half into 8 pieces (there will be a few extra slices, so don't use the smallest pieces!)

Place cooked rice, diced chicken and seasoned vinegar in a mixing bowl and mix well.

Quarter each cabbage leaf by slicing out the center stem, then cutting each leaf into about 4 equal pieces.  This won't be terribly precise, but it's fine.

Assembly:

Fill your cabbage  bowl with warm water, gather all your ingredients near by and place a large cutting board in front of you.  One at a time, take a spring roll skin and dip it into the water for about 3-5 seconds.  It should still feel stiff when you remove it.  Place it on your cutting board and layer a cabbage quarter, 2T of rice, a slice of avocado and a piece of ginger on the edge nearest to you.

Stretch and roll the wrapper around the filling once or twice, then fold over both ends and continue to stretch and roll - it should stretch a lot, like plastic wrap, and make a nice, tight cylinder.  The ends might look wonky - try to keep your end fold-overs nice and wide, not let them bunch up in the middle.  After you do one or 2, you'll get the hang of it.  The roll will continue to soften and stick to itself within a few minutes.

Put a piece of plastic wrap on a serving plate, and fit as many as you can in a single layer, then add another layer of plastic wrap before stacking more.  These may be prepared ahead and kept in the fridge for at least 24 hours.  Serve with soy sauce for dipping.

Enjoy!

Nutritional Info - per each roll:

Calories - 95, Fat - 2.4g, Cholesterol - 3.9mg, Sodium - 44.2mg, Carbs - 8.6g, Protein - 3.2g

Crock Pot Asian Chicken & Vegetables

I am really excited about this posting. This recipe was amazing and I had to share!! The original recipe called for using a crock pot, but I only have a BIG crock pot - my 4qt. got lost in the move. So, I used my 6qt. cast iron dutch oven. In hindsight, after I got all the ingredients in, I would have had plenty to fill my big one!! Read the recipe to the end to be sure you get your times right.


Crock Pot Asian Chicken & Vegetables
Total time - about 5:15
Serves - 6-8 or more

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs chicken - I skinned and boned 9 thighs. You can use bone-in or breasts as well. Do take the skin off.

Sauce:

• 2/3C soy sauce
• 6T (3/8C - just guess) oil - any kind
• 6T (3/8C) brown sugar
• 3/4C water
• 1T or more minced garlic
• 1T ground ginger
• 2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and quartered

Veggies:

• 5 C of your favorite vegetables for asian. I used: 1.5C baby carrots - quartered lengthwise, 1.5C snap peas - snapped and strung, 2C broccoli - cut into flowerettes. Red bell pepper strips would be awesome here too.

• 1/4C soy sauce
• 2T corn starch
• Hot rice for all
• optional garnishes - sliver almonds, peanuts, sliced green onions
  

Directions:

1. Place chicken in the bottom of your crock pot or dutch oven. I put mine in frozen solid. (I opened the lid after an hour and pressed the chicken down into the sauce). Mix together sauce ingredients and pour over. You can use only 1 type of ginger, but using both kinds will give you a much richer flavor. If you only use 1 kind, increase the amount. Set your crock pot to high for 1 hour, then turn to low for 4 hours. Bake your dutch oven at 300 for 1 hour, then reduce to 250 for 4 hours.
2. When there are 1.5 hours remaining, open the lid. Remove the chicken to a cutting board and lightly shred with 2 forks. It will be absolutely falling apart. I could have removed the bones with a spoon! Next time I'll save myself the trouble of de-boning first! Add the chicken back to the sauce and stir in the veggies. There won't be enough liquid to cover it all - that's fine, the veggies will add their own liquid as they cook down. Just press them down as much as you can, cover, and finish cooking for 1.5 hours - no peeking!
   
3. When it's almost time to eat, test a crunchy veggie to make sure it's done. To thicken the sauce, take 1/4C cold soy sauce and stir in 2T corn starch, until smooth. Add it to the pot, stirring well, and give it 15 minutes longer to cook, or until thickened.
   
4. Serve over hot cooked rice, topped with garnishes and watch out for those chunks of ginger!!

My Notes:

• At the end, the veggies aren't so vibrant, but it's because they're stained with the soy - the snap peas and carrots still had some crunch. If you're worried about them getting too soft, add the carrots at T-1:15, and the rest at T-1 hour (the carrots take the longest to cook).
• There also seems to be a lack of veggies - there's just so much meat! I think you could either increase the sauce, and use 2C more veggies, or just decrease the chicken, and increase the veggies.
• Further note - on my second attempt, I only used 5 thighs, and added a whole bunch of kale (chopped) and 2 bell peppers, sliced. The kale soaks up the flavor of the sauce, and you literally can't taste it, and it loses most of its fibery-ness - it adds nice vitamin punch with no taste!! I was going to add bean sprouts too, but they went bad before I got to them :-( It was a much better meat/veggie ratio.
  
• I also tried it in only 3 hours. 350 the whole time, shredded chicken & added carrots at 1.5 hrs, then added all other veggies with only 1 hr. remaining. Worked great!