Yes, it is way hot. But it's also August and after the brutal winter we had earlier, I've embraced the heat and humidity here in New England. It is hard to deny the weather has definitely affected my cooking mojo. Lots of simple dinners cooked on the grill around here lately. But even I'm now groaning when BBQ chicken and corn are on the menu. I decided to shake things up by 1) making something WITHOUT using a recipe (I'm a recipe girl) and 2) not slaving over the grill or stove (and not have it be sandwiches for dinner). The answer? Fresh Vegetable Summer Rolls.

Like a burrito or wrap, you can pretty much customize this with whatever vegetables you like or have on hand. For me, I go with lots of traditional Asian produce: bean sprouts, julienned cucumbers, scallions, cilantro, and carrots. We had leftover purple cabbage, bibb lettuce and avocado, so I threw that in too.

Step 1: Prep and gather all your ingredients and have them nearby your work station. 

Step 2: Soak spring roll skin in a shallow dish filled with hot water until soft and pliable (about 10 seconds). 

Step 3: Lay out spring roll skin on a clean surface and layer ingredients on the bottom third of the wrap. 

Step 4: Like a burrito, pull skin over filling, tuck in sides and roll to a close. Work quickly as the skin becomes super sticky and becomes trickier to work with.

I do have to come clean about two things. The boys were famished so I wanted to add some protein to some of the rolls so quickly boiled some shrimp to add to these spring rolls. You also need a killer peanut dipping sauce if you're going to go through the trouble of making summer rolls right? I whipped up this super easy dipping sauce from Epicurious. So a little cooking and a little recipe inspiration. And glad I did both because dinner was amazing.

If you're like me, you want to like tofu and promised to cook more of it for the family. But when it comes to a weeknight meal, that poor block of tofu you bought at the store sits alone and going bad in the back of the fridge. 

The kitchen smelled like a bazaar straight from the Silk Road.


I complimented these with two different dipping sauces – a traditional Turkish butter sauce with paprika and hot sauce and a soy and rice vinegar sauce. 

 

• 2 teaspoons Shaoxing
• 1/4 head of napa cabbage, roughly chopped
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 3 scallions (green parts only), thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Store-bought dumpling wrappers

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha
• 1 scallion (green part only), thinly sliced on the diagonal

1. In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
2. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in each dumpling wrapper, wet the edge with water, fold over, pressing firmly to seal.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat . When hot, add as many dumplings as will fit and cook for 1 minute. Add enough cold water to cover the dumplings half way, cover and reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook until liquid is evaporated and bottoms of dumplings are crisp and golden, about 10 minutes.
4. Repeat with remaining dumplings.
5. While dumplings are cooking make the sauce by combining all ingredients in a medium bowl.

• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 1 egg
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 bunch scallions, washed and finely chopped
• A few leaves of washed napa cabbage
• 2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 teaspoon vegetable or canola oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 ½ teaspoon Moroccan spice mixture (see below)
• ¼ cup raisins
• Store-bought dumpling wrappers
• Fresh mint, shredded, for garnish

• 1 tbs minced garlic
• ½ tbs ground coriander
• ½ tbs ground black pepper
• ½ tbs cumin
• ½ tbs ground fennel seed
• ¼ tbs cinnamon
• ¼ tbs paprika
• ¼ kosher salt

• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 3/4 teaspoon fine quality sweet paprika
• coarse salt to taste
• 4 dashes of hot red pepper sauce, or more to taste

1. Parboil half an onion for one to two minutes, until the layers of the onion have just turned translucent but are not soggy. Let cool; then finely chop.
2. Parboil a few leaves of Napa cabbage for thirty seconds to one minute, until the vegetables are slightly softened but not yet translucent. Finely chop.
3. Follow directions 1-4 above in Asian-inspired potstickers recipe
4. While dumplings are cooking make the sauce: In a small skillet over moderate heat cook the butter until it is a very light brown, remove the skillet from heat, and stir in the paprika, coarse salt to taste, and the hot red pepper sauce.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I was given the lamb courtesy of the American Lamb Board and BostonChefs.com. Opinions are my own.

Yup. That's the legendary Stevie Wonder with my folks after dining at the family restaurant in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a a big fan of my dad's cooking naturally! My love for food has everything to do with my Dad. As executive chef of my family's restaurant for 40+ years, I have clear images of my dad on the line in the kitchen, testing different sauces, tasting a bit of this and a little of that. He worked tirelessly in the cavernous, often steamy kitchen, 7 days a week, 364 days a year. But I think it was on that one day off, my 'pop' was happiest being the family man, grilling up some meat in the backyard for the family.

So in honor of my dad and all you wonderful dads out there, we threw some meat on the open flame Asian-style with this simple recipe.


Grilled Asian Pork Chops
Adapted from Bon Appetit 

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup black bean garlic sauce
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
2-3 scallions, thinly sliced
4 bone-in pork chops
DIRECTIONS:

The Good: Easy and quick to prepare. Delicious flavors that went well with pork. The kids loved it (but then again, the boys love all Asian cuisine)

The Bad: Leaves a bit of a mess on the grill. Could cut back on the black bean sauce a bit as it could be salty for some.

Grade: A-. This will be a weeknight staple, especially in the summer!