Pineapple, artichoke and jalapeño spring rolls

11 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in gluten free, healthy, party bites, quick and awesome, snacks, vegan, Vegetarian

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pineapple jalapeno spring rolls

Ah Summer… the only time of year when I lose weight without trying. Beach, pool, jogging, hiking with my dog, lazing in the sun and—best of all—eating loads of vegetables and fruit. Because they are what you want to eat in the Summer, not creamy corn chowder or lentil and goat cheese lasagna or curried pumpkin and apple soup. (Just a random selection of foods I thought I would not be in the mood for right now except that they all sound good anyways). All this garden produce food just looks so beautiful, colorful and hey-hey-hey-healthy.

The flavors of these spring rolls are right on the money (especially with a margarita). Don’t leave them sitting around too long as they get wet and start to loosen up and sag a little. Make sure you have a homemade peanut sauce for dipping.

Pineapple, artichoke and jalapeño spring rolls
makes 10 spring rolls
1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, julienned or shredded
2 fresh jalapeno, deseeded and julienned
1 jar artichoke hearts, halved
soft green lettuce
assorted fresh herbs (mint, cilantro, basil, Thai sweet basil, chives or spring onion)
10 spring roll wrappers

1) Prep all the vegetables and herbs first. Wash, peel and chop.
2) Set your work station together to make the assembly easier—the plate of prepped vegetables, fruit and herbs; a bowl of water; the spring roll wrappers; a counter or cutting board for rolling; and a platter for the finished product.
3) Dip a spring roll wrapper into a bowl of room temperature water and shake off excess water. You have a short time before the wrapper gets too soft and sticky to work with. Set it onto your work surface and lay down the lettuce first, followed by the julienned vegetables, the pineapple and plenty of mint, cilantro and basil. Fold up the bottom of the spring roll first. Then fold over one side of the wrapper and then roll up tightly.
4) Set the finished spring roll on a platter and repeat.
5) Serve with this peanut sauce (or use another nut butter if you don’t like peanut butter).
fresh herbs and salad

pineapple jalapeno spring rolls
pineapple jalapeno spring rolls

Hummus and garlic yogurt sauce in a falafel schwarma

27 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by in healthy, Middle Eastern, quick and awesome, sandwiches, Sauces, Street food, vegan, Vegetarian

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falafel schwarma 2

I like the overpacked schwarma—loaded with pickled vegetables and lemony parsley; hummus and tahini sauce oozing all over your fingers. Messy, delicious street food for the hungry veghead. It’s not too hard to construct a falafel schwarma-ish sandwich at home using what you have to hand. For the bread I recommend NOT using store-bought pita. Make your own pita or make this quick flatbread recipe or this even quicker tortilla recipe.

The technique is simple. Load up the flatbread with some greens such as shredded lettuce or tabouleh. Add plenty of pickled turnip, radish or red cabbage. Spoon on some hummus and add as many falafel as you can eat. Other vegetables like chopped tomato, cucumber and shredded carrot go nicely. Top with some homemade tahini sauce (tahini thinned with olive oil and chopped tomato, salt and pepper) or homemade garlic yogurt sauce. If you are vegan, than go for the tahini sauce instead of the yogurt! Try and fold this monstrous vegetable behemoth over and eat it messy with your hands or use a knife and fork and eat like a dainty princess.

Homemade chickpea hummus
makes about 3 jars of hummus
3 cups cooked chickpeas
2 tbs tahini (or peanut butter)
3/4 cup to 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt (or more)
pepper to taste
water if needed

1) Add everything to a food processor (or blender, but a blender takes longer as you have to continually push everything down) except the olive oil and water, if using.
2) Pulse everything and add the olive oil in gradually until you have a smooth paste. Add a little water if it helps.
3) Adjust seasoning if need be. The hummus should be smooth and quite lemony. But salt and pepper are important too.
4) Use in wraps, sandwiches, as a veggie dip or for a falafel schwarma. Or serve on it’s own with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of paprika and some warm flatbread.

Garlic and mint yogurt sauce
makes about 1 cup
1 cup full fat greek yogurt
1 tbs mayonnaise
1 fat clove of garlic
1/2 – 1 tsp dill
1-2 fresh mint leaves, chopped finely
salt and black pepper

1) Pulverize the garlic in a mortar and pestle with a few grinds of salt.
2) Add the garlic/salt paste and the other ingredients to the yogurt and mix. Taste and adjust seasoning.
This is good on it’s own as a vegetable dip as well.

falafel schwarma 1