Friday, December 12, 2014

Vegan Spring Rolls

I, Fenway Bartholomule, am a vegan: of course I only eat plants, not people! My human is too, so I'm sharing my blog with her today so that she can participate in the 2014 Virtual Vegan Potluck! When you're done perusing the recipe for these delicious spring rolls, click "back" or "forward" for the entire potluck experience!

Virtual Vegan Potluck: Spring Roll Appetizers

Beautiful? Check. Healthy? Check. Delicious? Check. Easy? Check. Fancy? Check. Quick to clean up after? Check. Vegan? OF COURSE! If you're looking for something portable, colorful, and crowd-pleasing for your next potluck, look no further than these simple vegan spring rolls! The best part? You can substitute ANYTHING. I never make these the same way twice, so play around with cilantro, kale, cabbage, scallions, or whatever you think sounds good!



Ingredients

  • Veggie mix:
    • 2 carrots (grated)
    • 4 oz mung bean sprouts
    • 1/3 cup chopped peanuts (raw, or roasted and salted) or other nuts
    • 2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
    • the juice from half a lime
    • 3 tbsp mae ploy sauce (sweet chili sauce), or sub 2 tbsp maple syrup and 1 tbsp hot sauce
    • 1 tsp organic sugar
    • 1 tbsp ume plum vinegar (or substitute soy sauce)
  • 10 spring roll skins
  • 3 oz. thin rice noodles or glass noodles
  • 2/3 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1 oz. fresh basil, removed from stems

Directions

Prepare veggie mix, cucumbers, and avocado while bringing 2 quarts of water to a bowl in a medium saucepan and an inch of water to a boil separately, in a large iron skillet. 

When water boils, turn it off and prepare noodles according to package instructions—usually, by soaking them in hot water for just a few minutes. Rinse with cool water, and drain.

Allow a spring roll wrapper to soak in the skillet, with heat off, until pliable. 

Gently spread wrapper on a cutting board, then place the next wrapper in the skillet to soak.

Layer ingredients, about 2 tbsp. of each, in this order: basil leaves, then noodles, then veggie mix, then cucumber and avocado.  


Close the spring roll wrapper by tucking in the sides, then folding up the bottom and rolling it into a tidy package. 

Serve with peanut sauce or sweet and sour sauce. 

I recommend this dipping sauce: 
  • 6 tbsp peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons ume plum vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
  • enough water to make consistency dippable, about 1/4 cup
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger; all ingredients whisked over a low flame until warm. 
  • Cilantro or crushed peanuts for garnish.


For more great recipes, continue on! Go back for Edamame-Coconut Trifle with Spelt Crumble by Juicy Dishes, or forward for Walnut Falafel sliders with pickled beetroot and a lemon mayo by VegHotPot!












Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Ears to you all!


My beloved friends—hello! It has been some time since you've heard from me. I've passed these months in relative contentment, watching the progress of my barn (coming along, coming along!) and learning the ins and outs of our new neighborhood (bray-borhood?).

There are a number of beautiful brown deer with whom I share my home, and I hardly lift my head when they hop in and out of my paddock on their daily meanderings. There is one white and brown pinto deer who scares the shish kebabs out of me. I spook, bolt, stare, and snort when he passes by. My humans can't understand why he strikes me through with abject terror, but I say it's simple: whoever attacked that poor deer with a bucket of bleach is coming after me next! 

There are 30 tons of fine gravel, 700 square feet of geotextile fabric, and a beautiful 2 story barn with a 320 square foot footprint, in a state of partial completion, at the top of my little hill right now. I have not yet been permitted to set foot therein, but I am assured that all will be most gloriously comfortable for me as soon as preparations are complete. In the meantime, Miss Arrietty and I are slogging about in some muddy mud while we wait for that day to come, but we're being well fed! It could be worse.

Grandpa comes every weekend with his little white tractor, moving manure hither and thither, moving gravel hither and thither, moving dirt hither and thither. FarmWife says she could get used to having all her chores done by machine! 

This weekend, FarmWife is going to share a vegan spring roll recipe here on my blog as part of the annual Virtual Vegan Potluck. Check it out! It is going to be AWESOME. In exchange for letting her borrow my blog for the purpose, I've pulled from her a promise to help me blog more often, myself. I'm bursting with ideas, but until someone invents a hoof-sensitive touchpad I'm going to need her continued transcription services! 

We have three more family members—Lily, Tippy, and Marion, the rats—and I'm due to report on Missy, who enjoying her golden years in the paddock beside my own. 

Life is good—hay is sweet—time for me to go and eat! 

Brayfully yours, 

Fenway Bartholomule