Asian Ingredients Needed For the Summer Spring Rolls

In case you are shopping for these ingredients for the first time this will give you an idea of what you are looking for.  Your local grocery store may carry these.  If not you can find them in a well stocked Asian grocery store.

Summer Spring Rolls

You’ll want to serve these often in the summer.  Summer Spring Rolls are are light and nutritious.  You can choose whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand.  Boiled shrimp or shredded chicken  are options for the protein.  And if you serve them with a peanut butter sauce, its even more filling.

Many of the ingredients which used to be found exclusively at asian grocery stores are now found in mainstream grocery stores.  Spring roll wrappers are traditionally a Vietnamese staple.  They are round, about 8 to 9 inches in diameter, and semi translucent.  They are made of tapioca flour and rice starch.  The wrappers are soaked in hot water that is comfortable to the touch.  A shallow plate such as a pie plate is a good one to use.  Soak the wrapper for a minute or so, lift it out and put it on a damp paper towel.  Near one edge of the wet wrapper, put your ingredients on it.  I layer the shrimp on it, then the basil leaves, green onions, cucumber and carrots, and then the bean vermicelli.    Remember that when it is rolled you will see the filling through the wrapper, so if you want it to look pretty, pay attention to how you layer on the fillings.  Tuck in the sides of the wrapper and roll it as you would a Mexican burrito.

Bean Vermicelli is a noodle made from mung beans.  Nutritious and filling, this is prepared by rehydrating the dry noodles in hot water for about 10 minutes.   This is another item found in Asian grocery stores and some local grocery stores.

Lay the Summer Spring Rolls on a platter and cover with a damp paper towel under they are served.  This prevents the wrapper from drying out and cracking.

Suggested Filling Ingredients

Shrimp or Shredded Chicken

Your choice of herbs – basil, cilantro, green onion

Assorted Vegetables cut into matchsticks – cucumber, carrots

Other vegetables could include napa cabbage, spinach, bean sprouts

Bean Vermicelli

Sesame seeds
Have fun experimenting with your fillings to find your favorite!
And now for the dipping sauces

Peanut Dipping Sauce

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce (or make your own from 1 tablespoon tamari sauce, dash of sesame oil, pinch of brown sugar, a few drops of hot sauce, and a splash of vinegar)

1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter

1 1/4 cup cups water

Heat the oil in a small saucepan.  Add the gralic, tomato paste, and the hoisin sauce.  Stir until it comes to a boil.  Add the peanut butter and water.  Whisk until fully incorporated and slightly thickened.  Let it cool and serve in individual dishes topped with roasted, chopped peanuts.
If you wish to serve a light sauce, the Fresh Lime Dipping Sauce is sweet and salty, a perfect accompaniment for the spring rolls.

Fresh Lime Dipping Sauce

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 Thai chiles or 1 serrano chile, stems and seeds removed, and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon hot water

1/4 cup Vietnamese or Thai Fish Sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 teasppons finely grated lime zest plus 2 tablespoons lime juice

Combine garlice, chilli, and sugar.  Add the hot water and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.  Serve in small serving dishes to accompany the spring rolls.

Hummingbird Bundt Cake

This is the perfect cake to serve in the spring and summer when hummingbirds are buzzing around your garden. In gluten free baking I have found that cakes with fruit in them make them moist and light.  This cake has bananas and pineapple in it.  I have this recipe in my list of favorites that I make again and again

Make sure that your bundt pan is well greased and floured.  Gluten free products tend to stick to the pan otherwise.  It’s also important to let your batter rest for 30 minutes before baking the cake.  Gluten free flours don’t tend to bind together well which is why xanthan gum is used in gluten free baking.  Resting, or letting the batter sit for 30 minutes allows the flours to moisten.  I’ve found that the difference between resting the batter and not doing so results in a cake that is is lighter and rises about an inch higher.  So by all means do rest the batter.

Removing it immediately from the bundt pan instead of letting it rest 5 minutes also helps to prevent sticking.  I simply put a plate over the bundt pan and turn it over.

The traditional hummingbird cake has a cream cheese frosting on a layered cake.  Since I am dairy free I make a lemon sugar glaze.  But if you’re not then by all means enjoy a creme cheese glaze.

Cake Batter
3 cups GF flour blend

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cups mashed bananas (about 4 large)

10 oz crushed pineapple (do not drain)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.  Stir together flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl.  Stir in eggs and next 5 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Spoon batter into a 14 cup bundt pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for an hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool the cake on a wire rack for 5 minutes and invert the cake onto a plate.  Allow to cool completely before glazing (about 2 hours.)

Lemon Glaze

1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Add lemon juice spoonful by spoonful to the confetioners sugar until the desired consistency is reached.  Spoon over the cooled cake.