Raise your hand if you’re from the Northeast and have officially turned into a human prune!!! *both hands up*
Did YOU know it was possible to feel both dehydrated AND saturated at the same time? Heat and humidity are the latest power couple, and it is getting rough out there. I just got back from an incredible week in Connecticut at the Amherst Early Music Baroque Academy, but it wasn’t always fun and games for my fiddle… Let’s just say when working with a period instrument with gut strings in 95% humidity, the name of the game is “What The F#*! Just Came Out of My Instrument?!” 5 points every time a string goes a whole step out of tune. 10 points when two consecutive strings go out of tune in opposite directions. 15 points when you play a note and nothing comes out… You don’t really want to win.
In this heat, my second love (cooking) also becomes not-so-lovely. When the mere thought of turning on an oven drowns me in my own sweat, I often resort to “un-cooking.” Luckily, the summer season offers us a huge selection of delicious produce, so filling up on raw fruits and veggies is hardly boring. And, not to diss salad, but there are plenty of creative ways to enjoy your raw produce, which was precisely our challenge at The Recipe ReDux this month.
This month’s theme, “Get Your Fruits and Veggies in Shape,” challenged us to transform summer produce using creative cuts. My spiralizer is one of my FAVORITE tools in the kitchen for this, and summer rolls are a go-to meal for me during the warmer months – oven-free, fresh, crunchy, light, healthy, and filling! What could be better than combining the two?!
While making this recipe, I was pleased with how quick and SAFE spiralizing was as an alternative. Julienning veggies with a knife or special peeler is fine, but it takes forever… Plus, I will take any chance I can get to keep my fingers away from blades.
To “wrap up” this delicious dish (hehe) I made an easy miso sesame ginger dipping sauce. Miso automatically lends an explosion of flavor to whatever it’s in, and I am always looking for new ways to incorporate it. This was a home run as far as I’m concerned!
Fresh, crunchy summer rolls with spiralized veggies and an addictive miso sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
Rolls
12–24 sheets rice paper
Warm water
1 large carrot
2 large (or 3 medium) cucumbers
1/2 purple cabbage
1 avocado, thinly sliced
1 mango, thickly sliced
1 cup cilantro or Thai basil leaves
Miso Sauce
3 Tbs. light miso
4 Tbs. seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 1/2-inch knob ginger, grated (about 1/2 tsp)
1 Tbs. sesame oil
Instructions
Spiralize carrots using the “spaghetti” blade, or thinnest blade possible. Set aside.
Spiralize cucumbers using the “spaghetti” blade. I like to drain my cucumber noodles after spiralizing by squeezing them through a cheesecloth or a stack of paper towels. Set aside.
Spiralize purple cabbage on the “ribbon” blade, or thickest blade possible. Set aside.
Prepare your avocado, mango, and cilantro and arrange them alongside your other prepared veggies for easy assembly.
Submerge a sheet of rice paper in a bowl of warm water for 5 seconds. Immediately lay the wet sheet on a cutting board or large plate.
Fill your roll (careful not to overfill!) with veggies. I like to start with cilantro so you can see the leaves laying flat through the roll, and then add the veggies from thinnest to thickest. I also like to add more cilantro on top before rolling.
Roll each summer roll delicately while keeping it as compact as possible.
Sauce
Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.
Notes
Work as quickly as possible to prevent your rice paper from sticking to your surface!
If necessary after rolling, double up with another sheet of rice paper.
This is probably not real life. Actually, I’m positive it’s not. I’m definitely just having the deepest and most wonderful nap dream ever. Is somebody gonna wake me up before I pee? No? SO IT IS REAL?! 😀
In all seriousness though, I’m so excited to be continuing on in their historical performance program. I get to play baroque violin all day every day, play with an amazing group, and learn from some of early music’s most revered artists. This has been a dream of mine ever since I began playing baroque violin, and it’s actually coming true.
….I am also a leeeetle bit wiped out though. This was a warm (not quite hot) mess of a busy year, even if it turned out to be SO BEYOND worth the struggle. Preparing an audition on baroque violin while still juggling grad student life on modern violin nearly made me crazy, and I questioned my sanity every 7 minutes, basically. One thing I learned in the process, though, is that when things get stressful, you just need to power through one day, one task, and one minute at a time. Bite-sized goals on small plates… Do you see where I’m going yet?
I’ve been re-watching “How I Met Your Mother” lately, and have been impressed all over again by just how real it gets sometimes.
Remember that time you had no idea what your life was about so you moved somewhere else on a whim, thinking it would fix all your problems? But then it didn’t? Lily did that! And remember when you dated that person who you stayed with against ALL your better judgment? Ted did that – like, seven different times! Or maybe you didn’t do either of those things, but I bet you know someone who did! It’s as if they know.
But you know what I find totally unrealistic about HIMYM, though? They’re always at the bar. I get that it’s their social hub, and I guess if I lived right over a bar I’d go there a lot too. But it really just seems like they are always freakin’ there. Tell me, real world humans, who seriously has the time to sit around drinking beers and acting ridiculous on a regular basis? Not me. Well, maybe I act ridiculous, but many nights, I don’t even have time to make my own dinner. That’s when I end up calling in a favor from my friend Amy.
Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking for myself (probably obvious given the food blog). But whether you like to cook or not, sometimes the time crunch is real and a frozen meal is the best way to go, especially if you’re trying to save money and eat what you have in the house. Yes, some frozen meals can be considered “healthy’ – Amy makes a killer vegan mac and mattar paneer! – but what if there were a way to combine the convenience of a pre-bought frozen meal with the peace of mind that comes with preparing your food from scratch? Surprise! THERE IS!
“By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by USA Rice Federation and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”
I can’t figure out whether I’m a patient person or not.
If we were to find ourselves on an NYC subway car, for example, and an announcement came on that we were being held until further notice, you would never hear me shout, “AWH YOU KIDDIN’ ME?” I’m a rarity in New York. Also, I can practice violin for extended periods of time with (relative) success and with (debatably) good concentration, which I definitely consider one of my best achievements.
But in the kitchen, I’m super inconsistent. I love the mundane aspects of cooking that a lot of people hate, like chopping and measuring. But if a dish is slow to cook on its own, and yet STILL requires my constant attention, like risotto? Ugh. Also, oats made on the stove. What even are those? I’m hungry in the morning… Team watery, high-risk-of-overflowing microwave oats all the way.
I have been trying to improve my kitchen patience, though. I mean, I’ve gotten SUPER picky about cutting all of my vegetables perfectly into appropriately sized, even cuts. I know that’s not really anything special, but whatever, just humor me. I think I’m doing a good job here.
Another thing I’ve been trying to do lately is balance my food groups better. With my ridiculous, often unpredictable schedule, it becomes so easy to fall into food routines – and not necessarily good ones. It becomes so easy to miss meals and then rely on snacks during lunch and dinner hours, which has become more normal than I’d like. Example: I had popcorn for dinner a few weeks ago. It was homemade though, and then I covered it in cilantro (that I dried myself – boo yah!) so I guess there was a serving of greens in there? Ugh. Also, “lunch” has recently become a spoonful of plain greek yogurt with cinnamon, pomegranate seeds, and a tablespoon of homemade granola. There was one day last week I ate that twice… In one day.
But now I feel that things are looking up, because I conquered this risotto, and have thus conquered my two biggest food-related weaknesses; kitchen patience, and food group balancing. The patience is worth it though, because this risotto is the BOMB DIGGITY. Do people say that anymore? Also, the base of this dish is rice, which makes for a great balanced meal that is also delicious!
Because of its many benefits, the USA Rice Federation has encouraged the Recipe Reduxers to spread the love, and “Think Rice.” USA-grown rice is naturally trans fat-, cholesterol-, sodium-, and gluten-free, so if you’re watching your intake of any or all of those things (…or not), rice is a great choice. It’s also inexpensive, easy to buy in bulk, and goes well with pretty much anything you want to put on or in it. It gets this hungry-but-frugal grad student’s seal of approval, and you can definitely be “Thinking Rice” with this mighty tasty risotto! Although it takes some time, it’s pretty easy to make. It actually tastes way more complicated than it is. In the words of my spirit animal Ina Garten, “How easy is that?!”
1 1/4 cups U.S.A. grown, organic arborio -or- short grain brown rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
4 cups vegetable stock
1/3 cup dried mission figs, chopped
1/3 cup pitted, oil-cured black olives, chopped
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste (if desired)
Instructions
Soak the dried mushrooms in the boiling water. Let soak for 30 minutes, or until fully hydrated.
Bring vegetable stock to a boil in a saucepan. When boiling, reduce to a simmer.
Chop garlic and sage. Set aside.
Chop onion. Set aside.
Chop figs and olives. Set aside.
Once mushrooms are hydrated, strain and then reserve the soaking liquid through a cheesecloth or paper towel. Chop the mushrooms. Set aside.
Add 3 tbs. of olive oil to a large, deep skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and sage and let sweat until fragrant.
Add onion to skillet. Stir frequently, cooking until semi-translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add rice to skillet, plus one more tablespoon of olive oil. Toss to coat, and toast for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
Add wine to skillet.
Once wine liquid has cooked off, add mushroom liquid and a ladleful of the hot stock. Stir occasionally, until liquid is absorbed.
Add 1-2 more ladlefuls of stock. Stir occasionally until liquid is absorbed, then add more stock. Repeat until rice is al dente. Add figs and olives to pan about halfway through the cooking process (when stock is half gone).
Remove risotto from heat. Stir in cheese, plus salt and pepper to taste if desired.
Notes
Garnish with sage leaves, thinly sliced fig, and/or extra pecorino. Because cheese.
Save time by chopping your garlic, sage, onion, etc. while the mushrooms are soaking and the stock is heating up.
Kill time while waiting for the risotto to cook by drinking the leftover wine 😉
Banana “ice cream” is a huge fad now, and for good reason – you can do pretty much anything with it, and it (basically) tastes like you’re eating soft serve ice cream. And I LOVE that, for a lot of reasons. Need I count the ways?
It’s a great way to sneak in a serving of fruit, especially if you’re not a banana person. The cold temperature takes out most of the banana-y flavor. Take it from a person who’s not a fan of eating bananas by themselves.
It’s naturally sweet. Just like meee! (…If it’s a Friday and I’ve eaten recently.)
It’s dairy free, for all those sensitive tummies out there.
No fancy equipment needed. There are some fun contraptions out there specifically designed for banana ice cream, but an electric OR manual food processor works just as well.
It’s another way to use up those spotty, soft bananas.
You can add anything you want into or on top of it. Healthy Coldstone? YES. PLEASE.
My favorite part – it’s SINGLE SERVING. You use one frozen banana, and then don’t have to fight the irresistible pull of a carton.
After all this glorification of banana ice cream, I WOULD be lying to you if I said that it’s exactly the same as ice cream. Ice cream certainly has its special time and place – like, melting over the top of a warm slice of pie on Thanksgiving, or when the Mr. Softee truck comes by on July 4th. Or, when you and your friends want to cry together and watch movies based on Nicholas Sparks novels. (Ben and Jerry’s was a stereotypical post-breakup staple in college for our group of friends, second only to the Whole Foods salad bar… We weren’t very consistent.) For the other 99% of your life though, I promise that banana ice cream can perfectly satisfy your frozen dairy craving.
This recipe is so simple, I almost feel bad calling it a recipe. But I swear to you, it actually tastes like cookie dough ice cream. I ate this about 3 times last week, and regret absolutely nothing. So go forth, and go bananas.
Cookie dough ice cream alternative with a raw, vegan, no sugar added, dairy free base!
Ingredients
Scale
1 banana, frozen in coins
1/3 date and cashew bar, chopped (I used a “Cashew Cookie” Larabar)
1 tbs. dark chocolate or carob chips
~1/2 tsp. almond milk or water, if needed for blending
Instructions
Add frozen banana, chocolate, and date bar to a food processor, blending on low until bananas are smooth. If the mixture is too crumbly, add almond milk or water to assist with blending. If you want chunkier mix ins, blend bananas first until almost smooth, then add the chocolate and date bar and pulse until broken up. Serve immediately.
Notes
For easier blending, freeze the banana coins on a flat surface or spread out individually in a freezer-safe bag.
