Rainbow Spring Rolls

If you are looking for something healthy, full of veggies, and fun to make, try these out. They're also great for a party: put out sliced veggies, cooked and sliced chicken or steamed shrimp if you like, and let everyone make their own rolls. Traditional spring rolls also have rice noodles inside, but I usually skip them... that's just me. Peanut sauce makes for the perfect condiment! Make plenty, everyone will want their fair share. 

Rainbow Spring Rolls

Published May 30, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

These spring rolls have every color of the rainbow, and are perfect for summertime!

Yields: 15   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

For the rolls:
• 15 Rice paper wrappers
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup cucumber, julienned
• 5 pieces of lettuce, thick stem pieces removed
• 1 cup purple cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
• Optional: chicken (cooked and sliced) or shrimp (steamed), avocado


For the sauce:
• 1/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha
• 1/4 cup coconut milk (canned, full-fat) 

Directions:

1. Prepare your workspace: set all of your sliced veggies out where they are easy to access (I put them all in small bowls around my cutting board).
2. Heat 1 centimeter of water until it’s just ready to simmer, but not bubbling yet. Place 1 rice paper wrapper in the hot water, just until it becomes soft and pliable. Then, carefully remove it from the water with out tearing it and place it flat on your cutting board (this may take a bit of practice! If you tear one or two, you can try to use it still or just start over with a new rice paper wrapper). While the wrapper is still pliable and warm, make a small row of veggies on one side of the rice paper (1-2 cucumber slices, a few tablespoons each of cabbage and carrots, 1-2 shrimp or slices of chicken, etc.) All together, you want about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of filling for each roll. Then, roll everything up like a burrito.
3. Repeat step 2 until you’ve used up all of your rice paper wrappers.
4. Make the sauce: stir together all of the ingredients until a uniform, creamy sauce comes together.
5. Serve spring rolls with a side of sauce for dipping. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Sesame Cabbage Fritters

Like most humans, I am hungry...our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it... - M. F. K. Fisher

Thick, paperback, and a little bit intimidating, a large text book sat on my desk when I walked into the office one morning. I immediately remembered a conversation with a co-worker when they said they had a book to lend me (thanks Max!). Food and Culture: A Reader, was the title.

The forward was a quote from M. F. K. Fisher that I absolutely adore (the one I opened this post with).  Of course food and security and love, are intertwined. Every discussion about food is also about your up bringing and your emotions and your heart. Of course. This is why I love the topic: we all have a deep, intrinsic connection to what we make in our kitchens and even what we eat when we are very, very far from our kitchens. There is something there, and it is so much more than food (even when food is the hero of the story). 

Take these cabbage pancakes: I could tell you about how delicious they were, and how they were something new for our table. But that's not the story. The story is about how I have always (always!) struggled to make anything like this: latkes, zucchini pancakes, corn cakes. The few memories I have of latkes (a bat mitzvah, a pot luck)  are positive (who doesn't love potato fried in oil) but they were never something my parents made and I didn't grow up watching them come together. So when I've tried to recreate them in my own kitchen, it's been a battle of Caitlin versus fried patty, and sadly the patties usually win and I put up a white flag. We eat whatever it is as a shredded, fried pile (it's delicious, but totally off the mark). 

With this as my background, I'm not sure what exactly made me think "I will make pancakes out of this head of cabbage that's been wasting away in the fridge" rather than just sautéing it or making slaw. But, that's what I thought. I got out a knife, and shredded the cabbage into thin, papery strips, and as I did it's volume ballooned and filled our largest mixing bowl. This made me nervous, but I made the move that said "There's no turning back" (tossing everything with egg and cassava flour) and then--after thinking for a brief moment What will I do with this pile of sticky battery cabbage if this doesn't work out?- I heated up oil in the pan. 

And? Hallelujah! Finally a fritter I can make. A single battle won, 15 more pancakes to flip. That first pancake gave me the bode of confidence I needed: It didn't matter that I wasn't a life-time latke-making pro. Attempt after attempt of fritter frying, my work had paid off. This win was coming home. (And yes, the stringiness of the cabbage, compared to shredded potato, may have something to do with my success. I'm ok with that for now). 

These were also completely devoured in 5 minutes, if any one asks. But if they do ask, please also tell them it's a story about perseverance. 

Sesame Cabbage Fritters (Gluten-Free and Paleo)

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Cabbage is fried in a savory pancake and served with a sesame-soy dipping sauce.

Yields: 4   |    Total Time: 30 active minutes

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Ingredients:

• 6 cups shredded cabbage
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup cassava flour (Here is one brand)
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 bunch green onions, roots removed and remaining parts roughly chopped
• Dash salt
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• Coconut oil for cooking

For the dipping sauce:
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha

Directions:

1. Please shredded cabbage in bowl and toss with chopped green onions, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, dash of salt, and cassava flour. Once cabbage is coated, crack eggs into bowl and add sesame oil and soy sauce. Mix until everything is combined.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once it sizzles, scoop the cabbage mixture into the skillet 1/4 cup at a time. Use a spatula to press the 1/4 cup pile down into a pancake shape and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes, until the cabbage begins to brown. Using the spatula, flip the fritter and cook on the second side for 5-10 more minutes, until browned. (I find I can do 3 fritters at once in my skillet to quicken the cooking process). Place cooked fritters on a plate and repeat until all of the cabbage mixture is used.
3. Make the sauce: combine ingredients for sauce in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Stir. After 5 minutes, remove from heat. Pour into small bowl.
4. Serve fritters warm with sauce for dipping. Garnish with extra sesame seeds or Sriracha.

Healthy Moo Shu Stir Fry

Update - 4/23/2017: I've been working on my photography, and since this is one of my most popular recipes, I wanted to give the images a revamp! These pictures are new, but the recipe is the same as it's always been. (Original image is at bottom of post for reference).

Usually, I enjoy riding my bike to work. As you pull around a corner and head down a hill, there's no better word than freedom. Do you remember biking around the block as a kid? Just free to roll? Why leave those moments to the kids? When it's Friday afternoon, and you roll out of the office parking lot, the wind in your face, you'll know what I mean. 

I'm writing this post because a few weeks ago I took a spill that landed me face first on the pavement. The asphalt ripped through my (brand new) down coat, my gloves, and scraped up my arms. My helmet saved my head, my sunglasses saved my face -- thank goodness (not to sound all "mom" on you, buuuut Wear your helmet!!). 

A lot of people offered me a ride home that day, and I almost took someone up on it when, after getting so many offers, I started to wonder if maybe I shouldn't ride home. The lazy little voice inside of me liked the sound of a warm car, and someone else at the wheel. The more I thought about it, the more my apprehension grew, until my lazy voice was coupled with my what-if voice, and suddenly I could hear nothing in my mind but whispers of "Warm caaaar..." "Nice and safe...." "Warm car....." "Don't you fall agaaaaain".

Here's the thing: they offered me a ride because I was flustered, and they care. And that was really nice. But what no one can know, unless they can hear your thoughts, is the power of getting up and starting again. When I was a gymnast, this was the golden rule: if you fall, you get right back and try again. Otherwise, that what-if voice will only gain power and become a tyrant you can't ignore.

At first, I rode terribly slow and cautiously. My eyes analyzed every bit of pavement in front of me: Is that the rock I hit? Oh! don't hit that rock. Go way over there, away from that sand pit.

And then, anxious to get through a green light before it turned red, I cautiously peddled a little faster. After a few blocks, I realized I was free again -- all of that negative energy leaving my body with each exhale. It's just my bike. I know how to bike. I love to bike. 

And hey, on the bright side, that crash motivated me to finally get a massage I've desperately been wanting. (Thanks, whiplash!) 

When you fall, get right back up. Find glory in that freedom. And then, find something delicious to eat -- something like this moo shu. 😉

Healthy Moo Shu Stir Fry

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

Pork:
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1 pound boneless pork loin OR chicken thighs, cut into 1 x 1/4-inch strips (ask your butcher to do it for you!)
Stir Fry:
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 cup (1-inch) sliced green onions
• 3 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
• 4 cups shredded napa cabbage
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
Sauce:
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder
• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Mix the first three ingredients for the pork/chicken in a shallow pyrex or ziplock bag. Place the pork in the marinade, and either close the ziplock or cover the pyrex. Place in the fridge and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours.
2. When ready to prepare the stir fry, remove the pork/chicken from the fridge and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Once oil sizzles, add the pork/chicken the pan. Cook on pork pieces on one side for 5 minutes, stir and flip on the other side until the pork/chicken is cooked through. Remove pork/chicken from pan.
3. Heat the additional tablespoon of coconut oil. Add the garlic, ginger, green onions, and mushrooms to the pan. Allow to cook for 3 minutes. Add the cabbage, carrots and the bean sprouts. Stir, and cook for 3 more minutes.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. Add to the pan, and use a wooden spoon to stir the eggs occasionally, just enough to scramble the eggs.
5. Add the pork/chicken back to the pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Drizzle the sauce into the pan, and stir everything until it was well coated. Cook everything for 5 more minutes.