Recipe: Shrimp Spring Roll 3 Ways

Tonight I'm injecting a little Asian persuasion into Turning Mediterranean because I can't think of a better, or easier, way to showcase fresh ingredients than inside a spring roll. Plus. I like eating with my hands. 

Now boil some small shrimp and let's get this party started.

Note: Amounts of ingredients will vary depending on the size of your rice paper, how full you like your spring rolls and how many spring rolls you are making. I have included photos of my ingredient plates as a reference for how much of each ingredient I put in one roll. 

Gather ingredients.

One: Strawberry Shrimp Spring Roll

(Trust me. Strawberries taste good with almost everything. )

small shrimp                               unsweetened coconut flakes
sliced strawberries                     crumbled goat cheese

slivered almonds

Two: Traditional Shrimp Spring Roll

small shrimp                              cilantro

sliced red cabbage                     sliced scallion

slivered almonds                        unsweetened coconut flakes

Three: Spicy Shrimp Spring Roll

small shrimp                               lime juice

sliced red cabbage                      chili paste

cilantro                                       sliced scallion

To assemble:

Fill a shallow dish with warm water. Dip rice paper into water, one sheet at a time, for a few seconds then place on a flat, dry surface. Allow the rice paper to sit until pliable - around one minute. Place ingredients on one side of rice paper. Do not overfill. Gently pull edge of rice paper closest to filling over ingredients and firmly tuck filling under. Roll. After one or two rolls, stop and fold ends in. Continue to roll carefully but firmly to the end. 

It is best to eat these fresh as rice paper doesn't store well. If you must transport them, wrap each roll individually so that they do not stick together.

I intended to tell you which roll was my favorite but I can't! They were all so good. Tell me, how do you roll?

Recipe: Spicy Chicken Meatballs

I love meatballs and I don't want to give them up to turn Mediterranean. Enter spicy chicken meatballs. They taste wonderful + it's almost shameful how easy they are to make.

One of my exes recently gave me a bag full o' Asian delights because I am such an awesome ex-girlfriend that my exes want to do things like give me food stuffs and hire me to build websites and ask me to go to cook a specialty dish for him and his new girlfriend (no, really). Chili paste, fish sauce and fried garlic, oh my! You know what is perfect for all of these ingredients? Chicken meatballs. The chili paste adds a nice subtle heat and the fish sauce adds a salty note. If I have to explain why garlic is a good thing, you are doing food wrong. 

Gather the following:
1 lb ground chicken                                 3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 scallion, sliced                                     handfull of chopped cilantro
1/2 tbsp fish sauce                                  1 tbsp Huy Fong chili paste
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil                      pinch of fried garlic

Mix all ingredients together. Get your hands in there!
Roll into preferred size meatballs and place on greased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 minutes. Turn! Bake until they start to brown a bit.
(Cut one open to make sure they are cooked through - better safe than sorry.)

Optional Meatball Dip: Blend a block of light cream cheese with 4.5 tbsp of organic low fat milk until well combined. Stir in a bit of cilantro and the juice of two limes.