Fed Up of Winter Foods?

I don’t know about you…but I am fed up of the “Comfort Foods” that I never make in the summer – the casseroles, the pot pies, the stews….  Bring on some brightness!  Bring on some colour!  Bring on some crunch! (No, I’m not talking chips, here…)

We were going out for a late dinner recently so hubby asked me to make some of those “wrapped-up-roll-thingies” as our friends were coming over for drinks before dinner.  Having been with said hubby for 19 years this coming June (yikes!) I actually knew exactly what he meant!!!  How scary is that?

I agreed that it was a great idea and made sure I had all I needed.  Nope, had to send him to the store for mirin or sake (I prefer mirin as I don’t really enjoy sake and I’ve no idea how long it would keep in the fridge….)

So, to work!  I was to make some Thai Shrimp Salad Rolls, inspired from Trish Magwood’s recipe in her book “Dish Entertains“, one of my favourite go-to books for appetizers.

I have often made my dip of a mixture of ingredients I have on hand in my fridge and cupboard but today I made hers…

Gather your ingredients for the dip: mirin (or sake), lime juice, sambal oelek chili paste, sugar, finely chopped green onions and oil.

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl EXCEPT the oil.  Once well blended, slowly add the oil, whisking constantly until dip is emulsified.   Add salt to taste, mix and set aside.

Gather your ingredients to make the wraps.

Now, to make your life a tad easier, you should line up your ingredients in an “assembly line” – which I did, but did not photograph!

Place a clean tea towel, folded in four, next to your pie plate filled with hot water to soften the rice wraps.

The softened sheets (after about 30 seconds) are then placed on the tea towel and you may start layering your goodies.

The mix of colours makes it all just so lovely!

And, with all the ingredients….of course, they must lay one on top of the other in order to make a perfect roll.

I apologize for not thinking of showing the rolling up process. What was I thinking? Oh, sorry, I wasn’t at all!

Ready to serve!