This past Saturday was a glorious Spring day in Brooklyn - weather in the 70s with full sunshine all day. Forget raindrops on roses and even whiskers on kittens; sunshine and vegetarian food are two of my favorite things. Put them together and you’ve got is, in the words of Yogi Bear, a pic-a-nic.

Spring rolls make the perfect picnic food - light, fresh, easy to pack and fun to dip. Add a pasta, potato or fruit salad and you’re good to go for a day of frisbee and wallowing in the sun.

These spring rolls are my contribution to the new blogging event hosted by Real Epicurean, A Slice of Cherry Pie, and Cherry’s English Kitchen called “In The Bag.” The idea is that the hosts spotlight a few seasonal ingredients that go “in your bag” and you make a seasonal dish with them. Eating seasonally is great for a number of reasons, the most immediately gratifying of which is that fresh food at the peak of it’s growing season just tastes better! So kudos to these folks for starting such a great event.

Makes about 12 rolls to serve 4 as a main dish or 6-12 as an appetizer
Time: 30 minutes

Asparagus and Green Onion Spring Rolls

2 bunches of asparagus
2 bunches of green onions, sliced
1 16oz block of extra firm tofu, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 cups of pea shoots or a carton of your favorite kind of sprouts
1.5 cups slivered almonds
15 spring roll wrappers (round rice paper wraps)

Wash the asparagus and snap off the woody part of the stems. Steam by placing a bundle (tied with a rubber band or string) upright in a large pot filled with an inch of boiling water. Cover and steam for 5 - 8 minutes. When the asparagus are bright green, take them out and plunge into a bowl of cold water. Drain and set aside in a bowl.

Prepare separate bowls of the chopped green onion, tofu, sprouts, and almonds.

Prepare your choice of dipping sauce(s). You can use the ones below or your favorite homemade or prepared sauce or dressing.

To work with the spring roll wrappers first find a shallow dish that’s large enough to soak the wrapper without folding it. Heat a kettle of water until almost boiling. Fill your dish with a half inch of water and gently submerge one spring roll wrapper being careful to keep all the edges soaking equally. Soak for a few seconds, until the whole wrapper is just translucent and pliable.

Place the wrapper on a large cutting board or table. In the bottom 1/3 of the wrapper place lengthwise two thin or one large asparagus spears. Sprinkle over some green onions, tofu, sprouts, and almonds. Holding the filling tight, fold over the bottom part of the wrapper and start to roll the filling upward, then fold in the sides and keep rolling tightly.

To store the rolls, place in a casserole dish with a moistened towel on top.

The rolls can be served whole or cut in half on an angle for a fancy look.

Truffle Dipping Sauce

truffle oil
lemon slices
sea salt
freshly grated pepper

Give each guests a small dipping bowl with a bit of truffle oil and have them squeeze in lemon and add salt and pepper to taste.

L’il Sis’s Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce

3 Tbsp peanut butter - chunky or smooth
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup vegetable broth
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 - 3 tsp sugar or honey
1 tsp hot sauce
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

This sauce is jotted down in the L’il Sis’s food diary. I have no idea where she got it but it’s perfect for dipping or over a Thai-style salad.  Just mix all the ingrediants together.  Sometimes it mixes better if you heat it up in the microwave or over the stove.

This weekend, I went back “home” to Chicagoland to chill out with my mom. Who, as a very notable side note, is an excellent cook.

In fact, Mom spearheaded two distinct phases in our family’s eating habits. (1) The “health food” stage. And (2), the “French food” stage. The health food stage featured 1980’s health classics like carob, wheat germ, and apple juice concentrate. Once a week we either had stir fry (every imaginable vegetable and legume in a tamari sauce) OR we had vegetable soup (every imaginable vegetable and legume in a tomato broth base.) Probably not the most inspired recipes (sorry mom) but she sure had us kids eating our veggies because we were big eaters and too competitive to starve. And then, sometime in my early grade school years, seemingly by a single chime of the dining room clock, the bulgur was whisked away and wine and butter glazed meats, potatoes and casseroles arrived from the kitchen, shimmering with globules of fat. We’re talking Coq au Vin, Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce, Filet Mignon with Sauce Béarnaise. Soufflés. Tarts. Oeufs. Pommes. And beurre, beurre, beurre.

To sum up my gustatory walk down memory lane, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m thankful for being able to experience the granolaest of granola, and the most gourmand of gourmet. Thanks Mom- you really spoiled my palate and I’m still trying to translate your French/Midwest deliciousness into healthy vegetarian recipes.

This weekend we made a backyard bbq recipe that I think is a notch or two above the veggie burger & veggie dog summer bbq choices. These skewers are interesting, easy, flexible, farmers-market friendly and tasty enough to serve to any non-vegetarians.

If you’re asking, “What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks IS halloumi?” let me answer: it’s cheese. It’s cheese that you can grill. Without melting. In fact, it gets some rather pleasant “charred” areas when barbequed. Delicious! If you want to know more, check out the halloumi wiki. Note: some brands of halloumi cheese are easier to grill than others that tend to melt a little more. If you’re new at cheese grilling, grill on a separate skewer or with fast-cooking vegetables like cherry tomatoes to test out before cooking with longer-cooking vegetables like peppers.

Serves: 5 to 6
Time: 10 – 20 minutes for each batch of skewers you can fit on the grill

Halloumi and Vegetable Skewers

20 or so ounces of halloumi cheese (can find in a well stocked supermarket or Mediterranean specialty store)
Please note the below vegetables can be substituted for others - as with all vanesscipes, this is merely a suggestion. Get whatever looks freshest and best.
2 red bell peppers
1 green pepper
2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
2 red or sweet onions
cherry tomatoes or quartered large tomatoes
thin wooden skewers

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Concept: a vegetarian muffaletta sandwich

Concept detailed: a big ole finger-lickin’ N’Orleans-style muffaletta sandwich starring a crispy-fried full-flavor artichoke “burger” base and some optional oozy melty cheese.

This is a big, strong sandwich and my “artichoke burger instead of meat” concept elicited some pretty strong reactions. Some folks were aghast that I would try to veg or veganize this classic sandwich, shaking their heads and warning not to mess with success. Well, I’m a messer. More forward-thinking folks thought it sounds gosh darn yummy. Others just got a kick out of the sandwich nickname “muff.”
Well, tradition be darned, you gotta get your inspiration from somewhere and I was in the mood for a giant sandwich. My version is a little heavier on the veggies than a traditional muff, but I’m all about sneaking some veggie goodness in whenever I can and I’m not apologizing.

By the way, it turned out terrific. It’s also perfect for a picnic.

Serves: Generous 4
Time: 50 minutes, or you can let the olive salad marinate overnight to make it even better

Olive Salad

16 oz jar green olives
8.5 oz jar black olives
5 stalks of celery
4 carrots
1 green pepper
2 Tbl capers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
3 Tbl olive oil

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