A sort of Asian pasta dish.

Today I really wanted spring rolls, and rather than go next door and get take out ones (and risk a repeat of that one time there were two Heathers waiting for orders, and I got the right entree, but my spring rolls got mislabeled and I came home with shrimp...) I decided it was time again to make my own.


I was definitely out of practice rolling. The first one looked like a wet plastic bag, washed into the gutter. But from then on out I got the hang of it again.

Inside each roll was a little shredded carrot, green onion, bean thread noodles, mint, and some firm tofu that had been seared off with garlic, ginger, and a touch of curry. Jeff came in while the block of tofu was on the stovetop and began giving me grief because it looked like scrambled egg. I served it with some coconut milk/peanut sauce stuff, that I admit, came from a dry mix. Yes, I have chilis and peanuts in the cupboard, but there is something to be said for the ease of opening an envelope.


Here's Jeff trying to look hard-core or something over dinner. You can see the two goldfish make guest appearances over his left and right shoulders. (Sigfried above his left shoulder, Ari above his right.)


And lest you think we just ate appetizers for dinner, we also had a soba noodle pasta thing I threw together with some sesame oil & vegetable oil, ginger, garlic, green onion, snow peas, and napa cabbage. The soba noodles I boiled first for 4 minutes, drained, rinsed with cold water, and then added to the sauteed veggies. The noodles and veg stuck a bit to the pan, and I threw in a splash of rice wine vinegar to add a little tang to it and to help release the noodles that were sticking.

Overall, I think it was a rousing succes and definitely worth making again. The speed and ease of the main dish was a relief after cursing and sputtering as wet rice paper slipped out of my hands over and over on the first roll.