Tag Archives: veggies

InspiredMe: Crystal Rolls

When I met my husband 5 years ago he took me to one of his favorite Vietnamese restaurants and we ordered these… They are called crystal rolls, (also known as Vietnamese spring rolls.) They are somewhat like an egg roll, without the fried outer layer and filled with fresh rice noodles, shrimp, and veggies. We moved away from the restaurant a few years ago and one night we were craving these like we do all the time… so we took a gamble and decided to make them at home. We were so pleasantly happy with our homemade crystal rolls we haven’t since ordered them out.

We make these all the time now. My hubby and I have this little system we use… I cook the shrimp and noodles and cut up all the veggies and he assembles and rolls them all up! He has a definite skill to the wrapping of the rolls… so that belongs to him. Mine never look so pretty.

It really is quite fun to make… and super yummy to eat. And by the way… homemade crystal rolls are far better than the ones at that restaurant we used to frequent. You’ll love these! Enjoy.

Vietnamese Crystal Rolls
Ingredients

1 lb. fresh shrimp

1 cucumber, cut into thin, long strips

3 carrots sliced thin, into long strips

1 red pepper, cut into thin long strips

1 head of green lettuce, any kind

1 bunch cilantro

2 green onions, sliced

Rice paper

1 package of Rice vermicelli noodles

Method

Bring a saucepan to a boil on medium heat. Add shrimp and poach for 3-4 minutes until bright pink. Allow to cool to room temperature. Remove skins, de-vein. Set aside.

Bring a medium saucepan filled halfway with water to a boil. Once a rapid boil is reached, add rice vermicelli noodles, cover and immediately remove from heat. Set timer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, drain noodles in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

To assemble rolls, dip single sheets of rice paper into hot water until soft and flexible. (about 1 minute). Allow excess water to drain and quickly place on a plate.

Add a little bit of shrimp, softened noodles, cucumbers, red peppers, cilantro, carrots, onions and lettuce.

Carefully roll closed. Serve with peanut dipping sauce. (We just buy our peanut sauce from our favorite Thai restaurant, but I know there are lots of recipes out there for homemade peanut sauce… do what works for you.)

InspiredMe: Raw Garden Veggie Soup

Posted in FeedMe, HealthyMe by

Two years ago I had a little fling with raw food. I went to the library and found some great raw food recipe books, got a food processor and whatnot. I was all Gung Ho about the whole thing. Yeah…. It lasted about a week. I’ll have you know, it was a great week… we felt amazing, but I decided I needed some variety in my diet.

Since then I haven’t made many of the raw food recipes of that fun-filled week…. except………. this incredible soup. I loved it then and still love it to this day. I’ve been making it quite often, especially while I’ve been on this 30 day sugar cleanse.

It not only tastes really good, but it makes your whole body feel amazingly ALIVE! It’ll give you enough energy to feel like you could go save the world. Try it and you will see.

This is seriously one of the most densely packed, nutrient-rich soups ever made, and quite easily the yummiest way to eat your veggies!

Enjoy.

Raw Garden Veggie Soup

1 zucchini

1 cup water

1 tomato

1 celery stalk

2 green onions

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp mellow white miso

3 garlic cloves

dash cayenne pepper

dash salt

1 cup chopped chard, spinach, or kale

small handful of chopped parsley

6 fresh basil leaves

1 ripe avocado

Directions: Blend all ingredients together in blender until smooth. You can serve room temperature, or you can gently warm this soup on the stove, making sure you do not boil.

(adapted recipe from jennifer cornbleet)

InspiredMe: Go Green Juice Power!

Posted in HealthyMe by

Have you seen the documentary, “Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead?” If not, go watch it, and if you have, than you know that nothing starts a healthy morning out better than juicing some fresh veggies and fruits.(Especially from chocolate Easter overload!)

My hubby, son and I love to juice! We found this 30 lbs. bag of carrots at Whole Foods yesterday and my son immediately says, “look mommy, carrots to juice!” Not only is fresh juice just about the most healthy thing around, it is also quite delicious and makes it easy getting more veggies into your diet!

I found this great recipe from Epic Creations. It is tasty and tangy and has a pick-me-up kinda feel to it. I added some kale and parsley too… just because I had some in the fridge.  Here’s the recipe from Epic Creations:

After Yoga Quench

1 Medium cucumber
1 handful of fresh cilantro
1 inch piece of ginger
2 apples
1 lemon
1 carrot, no top

Put it all through the juicer… and drink to your health!

Do you drink green juice? What’s your favorite juicing combinations?

And just in case you didn’t read this post on ginger…. 1 tsp of ginger has similar antioxidant levels as one cup of spinach! Bring on the ginger!