Summer Shrimp Rolls
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Chrissy Teigen you genius. If you haven't heard of her recent cookbook, Cravings, then you may be living under a rock. Chrissy is wife to John Legend, momma to Luna, hot model and now, a New York Times Best Selling cookbook author.
Cravings came out last Spring. The book's tagline is "recipes for all the food you want to it." It's just that. Page after page of recipes your everyday person actually wants to eat and make. When I received my copy, I did as I usually do with a new cookbook. I sat down with a stack of stickies going through marking each recipe I wanted to make. I read the book cover to cover. Like actually read all the little blurbs and antecdotes that no one usually reads. Chrissy writes the book like she is talking to her best friend, texting her husband or ranting on Twitter. She also has insane pictures of her in hot pink ballgowns, sitting on John's lap shoving hot dogs in his mouth as well as modeling bathing suits by the pool chowing down on chicken wings. She pulls it off, it's too good.
After reading through the book I found myself with practically every page marked with a sticky. Yellow Cake Baked Oatmeal, Caprese Salad with Crispy Proscuitto, Mac and Cheese, Baked Pasta with Mozzarella Bombs, Steak Bites with Melty Blue Cheese Butter, Artichoke, Spinach and Buffalo Chicken Dip, Cheesy Guacamole, Chorizo Queso, Sh*t on Toast, and BTI (better than Ina's) Roast Chicken and Vegetables. SO much goodness in this book.
The thing I couldn't wait to make though were these Summer Shrimp rolls. Those sticky rice paper fresh rolls you get before your meal at Thai places can now be made at home. I made these for dinner almost every night for dinner last week. They are so satisfy and perfect for a summer dinner. Kudos to you Chrissy for bringing the fire to the world of cookbooks.
Summer Shrimp Rolls from Cravings
yields 8 rolls*
Ingredients:
4 to 6 red leaf lettuce leaves
8 medium shrimp, peeled (fresh or frozen (thawed))
salt
1 ounce Asian vermicelli or rice noodles
8 large or 16 small basil leaves
8 large or 16 small mint leaves
1 medium carrot, cut into 3-inch long julienne strips
1 avocado thinly sliced
8 (8-inch) round rice paper wrappers (you can find in most supermarkets with the Asian food)
Thai sweet chili sauce, for serving*
Directions:
Rinse the lettuce leaves and pat dry. Remove and discard the center ribs then slice in half so you end up with 16, about 3 inch long pieces.
Fill a saucepan halfway with water and salt the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat to low, take the shrimp out of the pot with tongs or a slotted spoon and rinse with cold water, pat dry. Cut off the tails and slice lengthwise.
Place the rice noodles in the pot of still hot water to soften. Cook until soft. Remove and rinse in a colander under cold water.
Create a workspace lined up with lettuce, herbs, carrots, avocado, shrimp and rice noodles. Fill a clean skillet or shallow bowl with warm water to soak the rice papers. Arrange a damp towel on your workspace. One at a time, dunk the rice papers into the warm water to soften. Remove from the water and run under cool water. They easily stick together, so the cool water is a good time to unstick them from themselves. Lay flat on the damp towel.
To assemble: place 2-3 shrimp halves pink side down about 1/3 from the bottom, layer over mint and basil, then avocado, then carrots, rice noodles, then lettuce leaves. Roll up like a burrito by pulling up the bottom, tucking in the sides, then rolling till the end. The rice paper will stick together sealing it shut. Repeat with remaining rice papers.
Serve immediately with the chili sauce. *If chili sauce is too spicy for you, you can tone it down by adding a little bit of lime juice and water.
*The recipe says it makes 8 rolls, but it is easy to make less if you are cooking for one. I would eat 2-3 for dinner. The components last well in the fridge, so I would keep everything prepped, then just cook the shrimp, noodles and rice papers fresh each night and assemble just before eating!
Annie
I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. If you are a also a blogger make sure to check out their site on how you too can start Blogging for Books!
