Fresh Spring Rolls with Spicy Carrot Sauce

I have another guest post for you today, and I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this one!  This cool and refreshing recipe comes from Liren of Kitchen Confidante - her and I go waaaaay back, all the way to when we first started our blogs.  Even from the beginning, I knew I liked her warm heart and friendly spirit, and her blog is a place where she shares inspiring recipes with gorgeous photos.  I also really love her writing, she has a voice that is calm and real, and I always find her posts informative. 

With this recipe for Fresh Spring Rolls with Spicy Carrot Sauce, Liren has touched on so many things that I adore: first, you know how I can't resist fresh and seasonal veggies, and in this recipe, they are the star.  Liren was even lucky enough to find some pea shoots at the farmers market, which make these spring rolls extra special.  Second, she elevated standard spring rolls to greatness by pairing them with an intriguing Spicy Carrot Sauce (I can't wait to try it myself!).  And last, but certainly not least, Liren encourages us to share these rolls with friends and family - a concept that is near and dear to my heart, since I learned to make these rolls from a good friend, and have shared them with family ever since.  

I know you will just love this recipe from Liren, and be sure to stop by Kitchen Confidante and check out all her other recipes - I have still been thinking about her post from last year on making beer bratwurst, if you are into homemade foods and DIY projects, this one is for you.  Enjoy!

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I am so honored to share a post today on The Cilantropist. Amanda and I both started our sites at about the same time, and it has been a delight getting to know one another better through our kitchens and the world of food. I have also had the joy of meeting Amanda in person, and I have to tell all of you - she is as sweet and kind and as passionate about food in person as you can imagine. Having once been in her grad school shoes, I well know the stress of that world - dissertation drafts, defenses, meeting upon meeting...I honestly don't know how she does it all whilst cooking, photographing, writing and sharing it here -- and beautifully so -- for all of us. So I am more than happy to share something with Amanda's readers, while she gets all that hard work done.

It's been a sweltering summer for much of the country, and while it's been unusually mild here in the Bay Area, I am often chatting with family and friends that are melting in heat and humidity. I have the utmost empathy for them; I well remember the oppressive heat, when your excursions outdoors are greeted by hot sidewalks, heat permeating from every inorganic material - I've crossed many a taxi filled street in NYC to know. All you want to do is find air conditioning, all you want to eat is something light and refreshing.

Like Amanda, I am a fan of cilantro, so for today's post, I thought I would serve up something cool and refreshing, that highlights vibrant herbs and vegetables. Perfect for these hot summers, you will find these Vietnamese-style Fresh Spring Rolls with Spicy Carrot Sauce satisfying with the crunch of carrots and cucumber, the coolness of slippery bean threads (rice vermicelli), succulent seafood, and peppy herbs such as mint, cilantro and basil. And if that isn't enough, sweet carrots were used to create a Spicy Carrot Sauce in which to dip your bundles of coolness.

Chili Lime Marinated Shrimp: For the Grill or the Saute Pan

Do you have plans for Memorial Day weekend?  


Here in San Diego, gloomy skies had taken over the city, but now our sunny, 70 degree weather seems to have returned just in time for the weekend.  In America's Finest City, that means everyone will be celebrating the long weekend with beach parties and barbecues.  If you live in an area of the country where it is not quite summer yet, maybe I can help you kick off the season by sending some sunshine your way... along with a great recipe for grilled Chili Lime Marinated Shrimp.  And guess what?  Even if rain ruins your Memorial Day picnic, you can go ahead and bring the sunshine inside because this recipe is just as good made in a saute pan as it is on the grill.    

Dried Ancho chili peppers.

Some meats or seafood seem to be made for the grill - for instance, a thick seasoned ribeye or a gorgeous swordfish steak just don't seem the same when they lose that dark char - but other things are just as good off the grill as they are on it.  In my humble opinion, shrimp are one of those great grill-to-stovetop transitional foods.  When threaded on skewers and grilled, marinated large shrimp cook quickly and they get a really lovely smoky flavor; they don't dry out and they are the perfect compliment to cool summer salads.  However, marinated shrimp also cook beautifully over high heat in a saute pan, and they can sometimes be even more juicy than when they are cooked on a grill.  

For this recipe, I marinated my shrimp with a classic combination of chiles, lime, and garlic (and of course, cilantro), and the results were fantastic.  For the heat and spicy flavor, I used Ancho chiles plus everyday red pepper flakes, and it worked extremely well.  If you have not used Ancho chiles before, they are extremely common in Mexican cooking and can be found in most grocery chains here in Southern California (check your local grocer).  Anchos are often used in cooked dishes, but I wanted to try them out in a marinade instead of fresh chiles - that way, I would be able to make my marinade at any time using only ingredients from my pantry plus refrigerator staples.       

Rehydrate dried chilis by soaking them in boiling water for 15 minutes.