On the menu today—Veggie Rolls

The first time I tasted a veggie roll made with rice paper, I was quite turned off. I was used to eating spring rolls and egg rolls that are deep fried. The filmy, see-through, sticky white rice paper seemed almost gross to me and it was quite a few years before I tried it again.  

Luckily I am a firm beliver in trying something at least three times before swearing it off totally. With that rule I find there are only a few things in the food realm that I absolutely do not like after multiple attempts—parsnips, herbal teas and cilantro (being top contenders) That being said, my second attempt at trying veggie rolls (with rice paper) met with better success.

 To buy one, pre-made Veggie roll at the sushi section in my local supermarket it costs about $5 (includes dip) for one roll. If you make them from scratch you could probably make 6-8 roll for the same price. Needless to say I have since started making them at home.

Here's how I make mine:

Veggie Rolls
6 large, round rice papers
6 leaves of romaine lettuce
3 avacados
1 large English cucumber
1 super large carrot (shredded)
1-2 tablespoosn of rice vinegar

Preparation:
You can purchase already shredded carrots, but it is cheaper to do it by hand. If you have a mandoline the slicing is made a bit easier.

Once shredded, pour a tablespoon or two of rice vinegar over the carrots and mix well. I will sometimes prepare this a day ahead, leaving the carrots in the fridge until I'm ready to put the rolls together.

When you are ready to assemble, then cut the ends off of the English cucumber then split in in half down the entire length. Split each half into three separate pieces, lengthwise.

Wash and pat dry enough romaine letuce leaves - one piece per roll.

To assemble:
Dip a single sheet of rice paper in water for about 20 seconds. Place the wet sheet on a large plate.
Place a single lettuce leaf  in the middle of the sheet. Line the middle of the leaf with the shredded carrot. Try to make sure that the carrots are not too wet from the rice vinegar (strain or pat dry if neccessary ). Place one piece of cucumber lengthwise down the centre and then place slices of avacdo along the strip of cucumber.

You are now ready to roll! Working with rice paper can be difficult but gets easier with practise. If the paper was soaked enough, it should be filmy and slightly elastic. Pull the paper as taught as possible while rolling, tucking the ends in as you go.

Goma—Sesame seed dressing

Enjoy with a Goma dipping sauce—a Japanese salad dressing that is made with sesame seeds.

Bad, bad Metro!

Although I enjoy cooking I tend to get a bit lazy when it comes to preparing lunches (who doesn't right?) Especially when it comes to making salads. Like many people I love eating salads for lucn but they take sooooo long to prepare, so I've gotten into a habit of buying a ready salad for lunch at a near by Metro store.

Today I fought hard against the urge to order Thai and stuck to my daily routine to buy salad. Once in the store though, I realised I did not want the regular greek salad that I usually get and decided to try something else. Metro usually does not have a variety of vegetarian salads so I was skeptical that I would find something. Every salad tends to have meat in it...even their spinach salad has bacon bits! (That should have been my warning!!) Looking through the "wall" of salads I came across their "Supreme salad" WOW...supreme...with no meat!. I could see lettuce, cukes, cherry tomatoes, yellow, orange, red and green peppers and walnuts. I was hooked. I double-checked the label. Nope...no meat!

Pleased with myself that I had stuck with routine, I headed back to work anticipating an enjoyable lunch. After a several bites I soon realised my mistake. I bit of digging into the mound of veggies, I unearthed a huge center of bacon bits!  I realised that a past prediction had come true.

Bad, bad Metro!! If you are going to include bacon bits please make them visible OR label your salads accordingly

Squash Couscous

This recipe is adapted from a 2001 LCBO Food & Drink magazine. I like to bring this to BBQ parties as an alternative to meat. Couscous is "high" in protein and therefore a tasty alternative. The original recipe calls for acorn squash, however I prefer the creamier consistency of the buttercup. Because it is a drier squash, I add a bit of vegetable broth to soften it up.

Squash Couscous
1 tbs. olive oil
2 cups diced buttercup squash
2 cups diced red pepper
1-2 tsp curry powder
1/2-1 tsp paprika
2 cups frozen peas, cooked (can substitute edamame for peas)
2 cups couscous
2 cups vegetable stock (if you use whole wheat couscous then you will need 2 1/2 cups of stock)
6 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts

Heat oil  in a pan and add squash. If using buttercup, cook for a few minutes then add a couple of tablespoons of broth or water to help soften the squash. Add peppers and cook mixture until softened.Stir in curry and paprika and cook for another couple of minutes.
Cook peas in the microwave and drain. Set aside.
Heat vegetable broth in a pot or microwave until boiling. Place couscous in a large bowl and pour broth over it. Mix well then cover the bowl and let it site for 5 minutes.
When the couscous is ready, uncover and mix with a fork. Add pea, squash mixture and pine nuts. Stir until well mixed. Serve warm or cold.

Serves 8

Nutritional Breakdown Per Serving

   323 Calories
   8g Fat (21.0% calories from fat)
   12g Protein
   53g Carbohydrate
   7g Dietary Fiber
   1 mg Cholesterol
   417 mg Sodium