Spring Rolls

Spring Rolls are surprisingly easy. With fresh veggies and herbs--how can you go wrong, really? I use these measurements as a guideline based on my preference, and you should too.

Spring Rolls
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 thumb-size piece ginger, grated
• 2 green onions, sliced into matchstick pieces
• 1/2 cup shredded or finely chopped cabbage
• 4-6 shiitake mushrooms, cut into matchstick pieces
• approx. 1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
• Optional: 1/2 C chicken or tofu, diced
• 2 Tbsp. oil, plus more for deep-frying
• 1 pkg. small spring roll wrappers (thawed if frozen)

Stir Fry Sauce
• 2 Tbsp. regular soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce (if vegetarian, substitute vegetarian oyster sauce, or extra soy sauce)
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. sake or sherry

Serve with
• Thai sweet chili sauce
• or 2 parts soy sauce to 1 part rice vinegar with sriracha to taste
• or 1/3 cup plum sauce with 3 Tbsp. soy sauce. Add cut fresh chili or cayenne pepper if desired.

Directions

1. Place 1 Tbsp. oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium to high heat. Add garlic, ginger, and shallots. Stir-fry until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add a little water to the pan if it starts to get dry.
2. Add cabbage and mushrooms (and chicken or tofu if you choose). As you stir-fry, add the sauce. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes, until vegetables have softened.
3. Remove from heat and add bean sprouts, coriander and basil tossing to mix in.
4. Do a taste test for salt, adding 1 Tbsp. more fish or soy sauce if not salty enough.
5. Set up for assembly--have a bowl of water for your fingers and a clean, dry working surface for the rolls. To assemble rolls, place a spring roll wrapper on the clean working surface. Place one heaping Tbsp. of the filling on the wrapper (if using large wrappers, you will need more). Spread the filling lengthwise along the spring roll wrapper nearer the end closest to you. Also, try not to include too much of the liquid left in the bottom of your wok/pan (a slotted spoon works well for this - drier filling is better.
7. Fold the left and right sides of wrapper over filling, then lift up the wide end nearest you and tuck overtop. Roll to the other end. Secure the roll by dipping your fingers in some water and wetting the end, "pasting" it shut.
8. To fry spring rolls, place some oil (about 1 inch deep) in a wok or deep-sided frying pan over medium-high heat. Oil is hot enough when you flick water at it with your fingers, and the water dances.
9. Using tongs, place spring rolls in oil, allowing them to fry a little less than 1 minute on each side. Spring rolls are done when they turn light to medium golden-brown (see photo). Place on paper towels (or a clean dish towel) to drain while you finish frying the rest. It might take one or two rolls to get the oil at just the right temperature--you don't want the rolls soaking in the oil, but you don't want them burning, either.
10. Serve spring rolls while still hot with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, or your own dipping sauce.

Mostly Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Cookies

I'm not vegan (ummm, hello? No bacon?) but I did have a delicious vegan cookie from the local organic grocer and it was delish. There are the closest approximation I could come up with. Good if you know people with egg allergies or vegan folks!

Delish Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter (soy butter if you are going for real vegan; real butter works better!)
3/4 cup soy yogurt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (I just did a big splash)
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
Zest of lemon or ~1 tsp dried lemon zest
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350. Blend the sugars, butter, and soy yogurt together (you could probably substitute 6 ounces of plain regular yogurt). Gently zest just the outer layer of the lemon, cut in half and squeeze cup up to keep the seeds from dropping in the bowl.

I found that it was possible to drop onto the baking sheet using spoons but the dough was a lot easier to handle if chilled for 30 minutes or so. I recommend putting 9 cookies on a regular cookie sheet because the dough spreads quite a bit.

Bake 10-12 minutes (check at 10 because they can get toasty quickly). Let them sit on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then let cool on cooling racks. Enjoy!