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.

Yes yes, “courgette” is just a fancy way of saying zucchini. But the alliteration of “curried courgette” works a little better than “curried zucchini,” so I’m not apologizing.

I often think of zucchini as the overabundant autumnal crop that people foist upon on each other like a harvest-time fruitcake. “Oh, here’s a pretty basket of zucchini for you. And here’s some more for your mom.” “Why thank you! To show my gratitude, won’t you please take these dozen loaves of zucchini bread?”

The courgette, on the other hand, sounds much more refined: creamy but strong, little but not to be taken lightly. It takes centerstage in this springtime dish paired with Indian spices. The soft and absorbent texture of the squash works great with Indian flavoring, though strangely enough zucchini and other squash are naturally native only to the Americas. Go figure.

My cousin, who was in town visiting from Nashville, was very impressed with this dish. He said it was both warm and cool, soft and crunchy, flavorful and fresh, filling but light. What can I say? He’s right.

Serves: 4
Time: 45 minutes

Curried Courgette Wraps with Radish

3⁄4 cup red lentils
1 1⁄2 cups water
1⁄2 tsp turmeric
1⁄2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp peanut oil or 1 Tbsp oil, 1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds
4 small zucchini, cubed or cut into 1″ rectangles
3⁄4 tsp garam masala
1⁄2 tsp ground coriander
pinch of asafetida (optional)
3⁄4 - 1 lemon, juiced
3 large radishes, grated
1 head of romaine or curly-leaf lettuce, washed and separated into whole leaves
To serve: hot sauce, cooked basmati rice

The plan of attack here is to start your rice, clean and chop your veggies, and measure out your spices before you start cooking. Once you start it goes pretty quick.

To make yummy Indian rice, per 1 cup of uncooked basmati rice add: 1 1⁄2 cups water, 1⁄2 Tbsp butter, 1⁄2 tsp salt, 3 whole peppercorns, 3 whole cloves and 2 cardamom pods and a pinch of saffron (optional) and cook in a rice cooker or on the stove.

To make the curry:

Cook the lentils, water, turmeric and 1⁄2 tsp salt in a saucepan over medium heat. The lentils should be soft in about 10 minutes.

In a large skillet heat the butter and oil (or just oil) and stir-fry the ginger and garlic for a few minutes before adding the cumin seeds. Heat until fragrant. Add the zucchini and sauté for 5 minutes or until almost cooked. Stir in the lentils, garam masala, coriander, asafetida, and lemon juice. Cook together for a few minutes until the zucchini is tender and the lentils are coating the zucchini. You may have to add a touch more water if your lentils have dried out.

Taste and adjust for salt.

To assemble the wraps put a little rice and zucchini curry on a leaf of lettuce. Top with the grated radish and hot sauce, if desired.

This is a dish adapted from a coworker’s adaptation of Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate Cookbook. I’m a sucker for sweet-and-salty combinations and this one has a titillating balance of soft prunes and tangy piquant olives and capers. It packs a lot of flavor so I suggest to serve it with comforty-smooth mashed potatoes. If you’re the spawn of vegetable-loving folk such as I am, you could also add a side of steamed carrots or sautéed eggplant but a simple romaine salad could also do the trick.

This Seitan Marbella is an easy dish alright but there’s something about the contrasting flavors and textures that impresses guests when really all there is to it is a bit of measuring and potato-peeling like you’re a Private First Class on the Battleship SS Simple. This recipe even has prunes, for goodness sakes, something that’s so ironically appealing it could only be embraced some someone as cool as, well, you.

Serves: 4
Time: 35 minutes

Seitan Marbella

1 cup pitted prunes, roughly chopped
1 cup Spanish green olives left whole
1/2 cup capers, with juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 head garlic, peeled and chopped
olive oil
1 Tbl dried oregano
1 tsp salt
16 oz. seitan, drained and chopped into bite-sized pieces

In a bowl, measure and mix together the prunes, olives, capers, vinegar and white wine.

Sauté the garlic in a little olive oil in a pot or wok for a few minutes until fragrant and soft.

Add the olives and liquids and start to cook down while chunking the seitan and adding it to the pan. Add the oregano and salt. Simmer until enough liquid has evaporated but so you still have some nice saucy stuff left to pour over your mashed potatoes.

I know I’m a little late for the Chinese New Year but these kumquats are a little celebration unto themselves.

What, not familiar with the ‘quat? Apparently in Canton they are pronounced “Gumgut,” which is a pun on the words for gold (gum) and for good fortune (dai gut.)  It’s a Chinese New Year thing to give away and decorate with pots of these cute fruits. It’s supposed to bring you (guess what) wealth and good fortune.  Gumgut is also a pretty cool word and I think I shall start using it as a term of endearment.

For those of you who have not had the (yep) good fortune to try a kumquat, run out right now and buy a big ole handful. They are addictive little buggers, packed with vitamin C. I’d describe them as the caviar of fruit world – a sweet, chewy and edible rind filled with a surprisingly tingly sour interior that explodes flavor in your mouth.

This dish is a quick and snazzy little stir fry spiffed up by the glamorous golden ‘quats. Use your favorite stir fry sauce or try mine, it doesn’t mater. Any way this dish will come out golden, bringing you good fortune for at least the time it takes you to eat this dish.

Serves: 4
Time: 40 minutes

Broccoli and Kumquat Stir fry

3 Tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
4 Tbsp tamari/Braggs/Soy Sauce
4 cloves of garlic, minced
30 kumquats, seeded and sliced into thirds on the bias
4 red Thai chilies, sliced on the bias
2 bunches of broccoli, cut into florets
2 8oz boxes of flavored seitan or tofu
short grain brown rice or noodles to serve

Combine the vinegar, soy sauce and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer for a a few minute to combine.
Heat a large wok to very hot and brown the seitan or tofu. Set aside.

Stir fry kumquats and chilies. Set aside.

Stir fry the broccoli and when it’s bright green return the seitan, kumquats and chilies to the wok. Cover with the sauce and stir until heated through.

Serve on a bed of brown rice or noodles.

Last week heralded the most depressing day of the year (good news - the rest of the year can only get better!) It’s cold and icy in NYC and the sun is acting too bashful to push its way through the clouds.

I noticed that it was about this time last year that Elise at Simply Recipes posted her version of Kale and Seaweed salad. I’ve been craving seaweed salad ever since I ordered it on New Years Day at Zen Palate. I can’t prove this scientifically, but heck, this is the time of year for seaweed salad!

I’ve forged ahead and simplified this into a full meal. It’s a kicky little dish that will fortify you against this toe-numbing cold and take the edge off your winter blahs.

Serves: 4
Time: 40 minutes

Kale and Seaweed Salad Bowl

3/4 oz dried wakame* seaweed
1 bunch kale, cleaned, deribbed and cut into 1/2 inch ribbons
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp soy sauce, tamari, or Braggs
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp honey
1 inch ginger, minced
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 cup of wasabi peas
brown rice
12 - 16 oz firm or extra-firm tofu

Cook your brown rice - the rest of the meal can be prepared well within the time it takes to cook brown rice.

Wilt the kale in a skillet. You don’t have to add anything extra to the skillet - the water clinging to it from the washing is enough to do the trick. This takes about 10 minutes.

Mix up your dressing: add the vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and ginger to a tupperware and shake until honey has dissolved.

Cut the tofu into cute, 1″ cubes. I like the soft, raw tofu to contrast with the silky kale crunchy sesame seeds and wasabi peas, so all I do with my tofu is bring it up to room temp and let it be. You may stirfry it, however, if you desire.

Soak the wakame in water for 5 minutes. Drain.

Combine the seaweed with the cooked kale in a salad bowl. Top with the dressing. Mix.

In a small dry skillet fry the sesame seeds gently until golden. Just takes a few minutes.

Then, assemble your bowl the following way:

Enjoy whilst imagining summer.