Spring Rolls--A Wintery Treat

A few weekends ago while we were bundled into my apartment because of the blistery weather outdoors Josh & I decided to make something delicious and fresh to remind us of warmer, sunnier days. Hence, spring rolls came to Josh's mind. So we hopped on YouTube to find out about making our own and realized its quite simple! And quite healthy as the majority of the ingredients are delicious vegetables of your choosing, some protein (crab, chicken, lobster, etc.), and some rice noodles. If you decide to use sauce, be careful as many sauces are quite high in their sodium content. Here's our very own Sheard recipe..

Spring Rolls

1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 medium cucumber (skinned & shredded)
1 cup crab meat (sliced thinly)
1/2 avocado (sliced thinly)
2-3 cups rice noodles
1 package tapioca, rice, or spring roll wrappers

Instructions:
1. Prep rice noodles as directed on package
2. Prep vegetables as directed above
3. Fill a bowl that is slightly larger than the size of your wrappers with warm water
4. Place 1 wrapper in bowl of water and hold it there for 10-15 seconds or until completely moist.
      **The wrapper should look clear at this point instead of opaque.
5. Take wrapper out & place on flat surface
      **We used a cutting board
6. Starting at the top of your wrapper place the ingredients you wish to have, you should have no more than a small handful to ensure there is enough room
7. To wrap: Fold over the top closest to the fixings. Then fold the two sides over. Then roll it the rest of ways rather tightly

Enjoy & think of spring!

Madras Shrimp Curry

I have never like shrimp until today... I've tried it multiple times, breaded, un-breaded, in many different recipes, but could never like it, until today.

I'm taking a Multicultural Foods class this semester & one of the great benefits of it is we cook traditional foods from different cultures around the world. Today we cooked foods from Indian cultures & heard from one of our fellow professors in the food department who immigrated to the U.S. from India.

Another thing I love about this class? I get to learn how to cook with foods I've never cooked with before. For example, ginger. This recipe called for peeled ginger which I didn't know how to do, but a lovely friend in the class taught me a neat trick on how to. Simply take a spoon and scrape at the peel and it will peel right off. Genius!

The dishes we had were delicious so I want to share my favorite with you & it is the one which led me to like shrimp.

The flavors in this recipe burst and you can taste the garlic, ginger, etc. with ever bite. Not to mention the heat of the sauce, a tad spicy, but just the right amount!  My last favorite thing about this dish is the shrimp is a great way to get away from your nightly chicken or beef meal but its still packed with protein! Yum!

So here you go!

MADRAS SHRIMP CURRY

3 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock or chicken broth
1 1/2 pound shelled and deveined medium shrimp
Salt
Cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Steamed rice, for serving

1. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet until simmering. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until softened and just beginning to brown (about 7 minutes)
2. Add the ginger, garlic, and curry and cook, stirring until fragrant (about 2 minutes)
3. Add the coconut milk and stock, and simmer over moderate heat until reduced by one-third and thickened (about 8 minutes)
4. Add the shrimp, season with salt and cayenne pepper and simmer over moderate heat until the shrimp are pink and cooked through (about 5 minutes)

*Note: The cayenne pepper is what is gonna give you a kick and some heat in the recipe so be sure to sample the sauce. You can always add more at the end too.

5. Stir in the mint and lemon zest and serve in deep bowls over steamed rice.

Enjoy!

OLD CHICAGO Sicilian Pizza Rolls

Have you ever been to Old Chicago? Well they have these DIVINE Sicilian Pizza Rolls there! However, living in a small little town, we have to drive over an hour to get to one. So, when we got a hankering for some of these delicious rolls, I scoured the web looking for a CopyCat recipe....well guess what?!? I found one.

You can follow the link to the recipe we used here or below I'm going to post the recipe & some AWESOME suggestions on how to make this a little more healthier!

First, the dough. We are poor college students with very little working space in our teeny tiny apartment so we simply used Pillsbury pizza dough. When we make this again & we have more room, we will use our Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe. This will increase the fiber and decrease the amount of refined grains in the recipe. So much healthier.

We also didn't have any yummy pizza vegetables on hand because grocery shopping day didn't come until today. However, some great vegetables to add to this would be mushrooms, bell peppers (any color!), onions, spinach, or any other vegetable!

One other great way to make this recipe healthier is to use a lean meat, make sure you aren't buying the high-fat kind of pepperoni, sausage, etc. If you can, choose turkey versions of these meats as it is healthier and a lean meat.

Now onto the recipe:

OLD CHICAGO SICILIAN PIZZA ROLLS

- Pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza) -The original blogger recommended not using Pillsbury tube pizza dough; however, we didn't have anything else, & we found no problems with it.
- 1 package pepperoni or other protein option
- Shredded Mozzarella or Pepper Jack Cheese
- 6 green onions, sliced
- Ranch dressing
- Your favorite marinara sauce for dipping

Preheat oven to 425.
Mix the dough according to the directions, (again, we used the pre-made Pillsbury) roll it out into a thin rectangle/oval and spread ranch dressing over the dough as you would pizza sauce.
Cover with cheese, pepperoni, and green onions & tightly roll into a long "tube". 

*Note if you wish to cut after baking that is totally ok too. Right now, put it in the oven! Otherwise, keep reading for how to cut it & THEN bake it.

Slice into 2" pieces.
Place a pepperoni on the bottom of each roll (this helps  and put them on a greased cookie sheet or baking dish. Top each roll with a little more cheese. Bake for 18-20 min at 425 (or until dough is golden brown).
Before serving, I sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese and serve spicy marinara sauce for dipping.

Enjoy!