Friday, October 2, 2009

Vegan mofo and plumcot spring rolls with basil dipping sauce

I decided to "officially" join veganmofo 2009, which I mentioned yesterday. I've never participated in a blog community thing like this before, so I make no promises. Considering I haven't yet made 20 posts in a month, I probably won't hit the 20-post goal. But I do have a nice list of vegan recipes I've made recently and not posted or want to try this month. I'm not limiting myself to vegan food posts this month either. I've got some other recipes to share as well. A few goals for myself this month: try some common vegan substitutes I haven't tried before, like nutritional yeast, flax meal for eggs, and tofu scramble. It should be fun.

First up, some spring rolls I made this past weekend, along with a simple but delicious dipping sauce. Of course, my award-winning* watermelon rind spring rolls are still the reigning champs of my spring roll world, but variety is the spice of life. This past weekend I had some plumcots and a bunch of alfalfa sprouts to use, so I decided to try a fruit and sprout spring roll. I rounded it out with yellow bell peppers and cucumber. I thought basil would pair well with it, so I made a basil dipping sauce. It was all really nice. I really like a bit of fruit in a spring roll. Mango, peach, or apple would be good in place of the plumcot. Or, of course, plum or apricot.

Plumcot spring rolls
No amounts here. Just cut up a little of everything, roll it up, and make some more if you're still hungry.

Plumcot
Yellow bell pepper
Cucumber
Alfalfa sprouts
Spring roll wrappers

Thinly slice desired amount of plumcot, yellow bell pepper, and cucumber. Soften one spring roll wrapper in water that is hot to the touch but doesn't actually burn you. Place small amounts of plumcot, pepper, cucumber, and sprouts on the wrapper and roll it up. Repeat as desired.

Basil dipping sauce (based on a recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman)

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup basil (I used a mixture of Thai and regular), thinly sliced
dash of Srirachi sauce, or more to taste

Combine all ingredients. Bonus points if you make it an hour ahead of time so the basil can infuse the rest of the sauce.

*They got a "most creative" prize at a recent potluck.

3 comments:

mollyjade said...

I love the idea of plums in spring rolls!

20 posts is going to a big stretch for me too. I think I average about once a week usually.

Jamie said...

Good luck with the 20 posts. Last year I tried to do NaBloPoMo and only missed a few days, but I don't think I'm up to it this year.

If you need inspiration: the guy in my office who has been bringing in big bowls of a quinoa and tofu recipe for the office has just left and so they've appointed me to replace him (not sure how that happened). I'm planning on taking in Moosewood's North African Couscous Paella, but if you have another suggestion of something that will be 1) cheap, 2) easy (I'm not a great chef like you after all), 3) transportable on my bike, and 4) keep well in the fridge at work as people eat it, then feel free to post about that!

Evelyn said...

Jamie, the mung bean and coconut milk thing might be good for that, but I think the couscous paella sounds like an excellent choice. And something good that I haven't made in a while and should! I'm also thinking about making a quinoa, pea, and nut salad sometime. I'll let you know how it goes.
So I don't quite understand the food setup. Is the goal that there is always communal food in the office fridge, or is it for one lunch a week or something? Either one sounds like a big job for one person.