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Spring (but better in Summer) Rolls

Spring (but better in summer) Rolls

with Roasted Thai Basil-Ginger Chicken

It has arrived. For most of you, summer is here. Yes, according to the calendar summer begins the 22nd, and we are several days away from that… BUT, for most, school is out. Pools are opening up. Yards are being mown. Vacations are well underway, or at least planned, or at least daydreamed about. 

Summer. 

And what better time have a light, refreshing lunch. Something where you don't need a fork. Maybe something you can slam into some dipping sauce. Or daintily dip. Or playfully dredge. (I am not one to judge how you dip. That is your business. Unless you take all the dip. Then it has become everyone's business. Long side-note short - make plenty of dip.)

Things you will need:

Chicken (let's go into this later)
Nob of Ginger (enough for 1 Tbsp chopped)
4-5 Limes (depending on size)
Thai Basil (enough for 1 Tbsp chopped, 12-15 leaves)
Garlic (enough for 1 Tbsp chopped)
1-2 Carrots 
1 Cucumber (I prefer hothouse or English cucumbers, the kind sealed in plastic)
Rice paper
Cellophane Bean noodles (that is what the wrapper says…)
20-25 mint leaves (depending on size)
Butter lettuce or spinach, washed, dried, and torn into pieces

Crushed peanuts, 1 Tbsp (optional)

"Hold on there, fella! Where do I find some of these ingredients? Thai basil? Cellophane noodles? Paper made outta rice?"

Well, most major supermarkets have started to carry the rice paper and cellophane noodles in their asian foods section. If not, the internet is full of wonderful places that will literally bring it to your door. I have found one grocery chain in my town that carries both, but several other stores don't stock either. Get out there and look at several grocery stores (if possible) because one might have everything. 

This would make a great still life painting…

Now, about Thai basil. That will be a little harder to find. Again, if your local grocer doesn't carry it, you could ask them to stock it, or try the internet. OR…

You could grow it! It is right beside the sweet basil in my garden. And yes, you could use sweet or some other form of basil, but Thai basil has a very distinct, heavenly flavor that you will be missing… 

Preheat oven to 375.

Let us now deal with this wonderful pile of goodies: the garlic, ginger, lime, and Thai basil. 

Get out a fine grater and remover all the zest off a lime. Be careful not to get the white pith mixed in. (It tastes bitter.)

Ginger: peel off the outer skin by rubbing it with the edge of a spoon or a knife. It is very thin and come right off. See, you did it! 

Then, peel your garlic. 

Now, you could use a knife and show us all how majestically, quickly, and finely you are able to mince up the garlic and ginger… OR…

Use the grater you used for the lime zest to make them small very quickly and easily. By the way, watch those fingers! Or at least keep bandages handy. Then, slice, or tear, or julienne the Thai basil into tiny pieces. 

Combine the ginger, basil, lime, and into a bowl with the juice from half of a lime (use the one you
zested). 

Next, we move to the chicken part. Yes, I used bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. I know, I know… I can hear you screaming, "Hey, this here was supposed to be a LIGHT dish!?! What do you think you're doin' with all that there skin?!?"

Time to relax in a 375* sauna...

Well. If you are looking for a lighter version, use boneless, skinless chicken breast… or just take the skin off the bone-in type. Or maybe you could just not worry about a tiny bit of fat. After all, we aren't eating the skin in this dish… Just saying… Now, back to our 375 degree oven (let's hope you preheated).

Rub your chicken with a very light coat of olive oil and then sprinkle salt on all sides. Place chicken in an oven safe dish (or a cast iron skillet). Then, (I use disposable gloves for this part) massage the lime/basil/garlic/ginger mixture into the chicken. 

Crimp some aluminum foil around the top and carefully place in your oven. After cooking for 20 min or so, remove foil so chicken has a chance to brown. Remove once chicken has cooked through and reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees. 

Remove to a plate, tent with a foil, and allow to rest for 10 mins. Then, shred and chill in the fridge for what happens next. OR… slice off the bone and have this as a main dish… Maybe served with some lime cauliflower rice… but that is another post. 

Also, now would be a great time to prepare your cellophane noodles according to the directions on the package and cool.

Once the chicken and noodles have chilled, let's make some spring rolls!

Next, prepare your carrot. Scrub or peel your carrot. Then, starting in the middle, make some vertical cuts. Then use a vegetable peeler to make thin little strips. 


See, doesn't that look fancy. 

 Now, prepare your cucumber. First cut off the ends, then cut in half, then cut that half lengthwise down the middle. (Pictures are probably better than me trying to describe it…) Now use a spoon to remove the center seeds and pulp. 

Using your peeler remove the tough outer skin and then slice them into thin strips. Or you could even use your vegetable peeler again to make the thin strips…

Now… rice paper. I will never claim to know all on rice paper. In fact, I plan on having to discard a couple of pieces of rice paper every time I make them. It is why they put so many in the package. They know they are difficult to use the first couple of times. Best way I have found. Dip them in warm water. And I mean dip. Leave them in until they are loose and pliable and you will have a mess on your hands. Like dip one side, dip another side. DONE. 

Again, NO ONE has a Jedi-like rice paper mastery their first time. Or their second time. Or their third time. If you mess up, guess what? It's no big deal, just get your stuff out of the paper in question and start on another. Now, back to building lunch. 

Now then, just north of center make a line of mint leaves, then a line of carrots underneath. 

Then add your noodles and cucumber. Followed by your chicken,  lettuce, and peanuts (if using them).  

After realizing something you exclaim, "Whoa! You didn't tell me exactly how much to add!?!? What am I supposed to do, guess?" 

I suppose guessing could work, but because these are made to your liking, you can build them as you wish. Really like chicken? Add more chicken. Really like cucumber and lettuce? Go crazy. The only rule is, the more volume you try to add, the harder it is to roll. Also, for some reason the cucumber always wants to poke holes, so try to keep it in the center. 

Now find a pool, or a backyard, or maybe you need some "you time" but the kids are going crazy, so you make a plate of these and eat them in a closet. It's your choice! Either way, go eat some spring rolls!

What? Oh, I didn't tell you about a dipping sauce? Ok fine...

Lime-Sweet Chile Dipping Sauce

1 Tbsp Asian Sweet Chili sauce
1 Tbsp Lime Juice
1 1/2 tsp Rice Vinegar

Mix. 

What? That's too easy? I assure you. It is all. While straight Asian sweet chile sauce may not be good for the diet, cutting it with lime juice and vinegar is a great way to keep the same flavors, but basically make it lower in calories and reduce the amount of sugar. 

Um, Diet-ish info?

Gluten-free: check labels, but it should be ok. 

21 Day Fix: measure your veggies and chicken. Remember to use appropriate container for dipping sauce… and 3 rice skins w/ cellophane noodles will equal about 1-1.5 yellows. 

Paleo: Rice paper may be out, but using the same ingredients, this could be a killer salad or even great as lettuce wraps. Some will say the noodles are out, others may want to switch to soba (buckwheat) noodles. It is all based on how you are interpreting your Paleo diet.  (I am not a Paleo expert so don't flame me.)