Shrimp Spring Roll Bowls

If you love fresh spring rolls with noodles, cucumber, carrot and a lovely spicy dipping sauce, you will love these shrimp spring roll bowls! They are so tasty and easy to make! 

One of my favorite things to eat are these fresh shrimp spring rolls but they are fiddly to put together. First, you have to cook the shrimp flat so they fit in the roll. Then there's the whole soaking the rice paper wrapper till it's pliant enough but not TOO soft so it rips. A labor of love that always felt worth it, till now. 

When our Sunday FunDay host chose "meals in bowls" as our theme today, it occurred to me that, truly, the rice paper wrapper is completely unnecessary unless, of course, you need finger food. 

If you are eating at home and have a table and a fork (spoon also helpful!), the bowls make a wonderful, fresh meal. This revelation is a game changer for me and I don’t think I’ll make rolls again! Not having to wrap the filling meant I could also add some carrots and radishes. All in all, these bowls were a good decision. 

Shrimp Spring Roll Bowls

The noodles used in these bowls are called bean thread noodles or sometimes glass noodles. They are made of mung beans. They are not the same as rice noodles but you’ll find those two noodle types together at many grocery stores in the international aisle or in any Asian market. Depending on the level of heat you enjoy, use all bird’s eye chili peppers or a combo of the bigger less hot chili peppers and the bird’s eye ones. 

Ingredients to serve 2 generously (we both had a little bit leftover)

3 bundles bean thread noodles (about 5 1/3 oz or 150g)

8 large shrimp, peeled and cleaned

fine sea salt

1 small carrot (about 40g), cut in thin strips

1/4 long cucumber (115g), seeded removed, cut in sticks

Small bunch cilantro leaves

1 green onion, thinly sliced

4 French radishes or their round equivalent

For those of you wondering how I got the carrots this thin, here's the tool I used. It looks kind of like a peeler but it cuts the carrot into thin strips. I have no idea what it's called but I love it. 

For the sauce/dressing:

3 hot red chili peppers, minced

1/2 cup or 120ml rice vinegar 

1/2 cup or 120ml water

1/3 cup or 75g sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

To serve:

Fish sauce, optional - we like the little bit of extra flavor and saltiness it adds to these shrimp spring roll bowls. 

Method 

Put the noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. 

Leave to soak for a few minutes then tip into a colander and rinse well with cold water. Set aside in the colander to drain. 

Cut the shrimp into pieces and lightly salt them.  Cook in a small skillet till cooked through. 

To make the sauce, chop your peppers finely.

Put all the sauce ingredients into a small pot. 

Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, until it is reduced to one-third of the original amount. Turn the fire off. It will thicken even more as it cools. 

Cut the noodles with scissors to make them easier to eat. Put them in a large bowl and pour the warm sauce over them and stir to combine. 

At this point, you can finish assembling the bowls or you can cover and refrigerate the noodles to assemble later. 

To assemble the bowls, divide the noodles into two bowls. Add the cucumber and carrot sticks, the cilantro leaves, shrimp, green onion and radishes. Finish with a drizzle of fish sauce, if desired. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are all sharing “meals in bowls.” Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni.

• Shredded Beef Taco Bowls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Greek Chicken Rice Bowls from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Saffron Bulgur Bowl from Palatable Pastime
• Tofu and Sprouted Moong Buddha Bowl from Cook with Renu
• Shrimp Spring Roll Bowls from Food Lust People Love
• Cheesy Rice Bowl - Cafe McDonalds Style from Sneha’s Recipe
• Baked Falafel Bowl from Mayuri’s Jikoni

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

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Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins #MuffinMonday

These delightful orange chocolate chip muffins are fluffy and not overly sweet. They make the perfect snack with a cup of tea or cold glass of milk. 

Can you believe it?! I’ve been doing some form of Muffin Monday for more than 10 years now and for the first three years, I posted a muffin recipe every week. That’s something like 240 muffin recipes. You’d think that I’d have run out of flavor combinations but you would be wrong! 

While I have made muffins with chocolate and orange before, they were a chocolate muffin with orange marmalade added so they were much richer and kind of taste like Christmas, well, British Christmas. These are much lighter! 

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

I used semi-sweet chocolate chips for these muffins but you could substitute milk chocolate or dark chocolate, if you prefer. 

Ingredients for 12 muffins

2/3 cup or 130g sugar

Zest of 2 mandarin oranges

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

2 eggs

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1/3 cup or 80ml canola or other light oil

Juice of 2 mandarin oranges (about 1/4 cup or 60ml)

1/2 cup or 90g semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus a few extra for topping, if desired

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by spraying with non-stick spray or lining it with muffin papers.

Measure your sugar into a bowl and zest the mandarin oranges into it. Use the back of a spoon to press down on the zest and mix it in with the sugar, releasing the flavor and oil till the sugar is a pale yellow and whole bowl smells of bright citrusy sunshine. Go ahead, take a big sniff. It's glorious! 

Whisk together your flour, orange sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. 

Add the chocolate chips to the flour/sugar mixture. I usually mix mine in with my clean hands so that I can separate any chocolate chips that are stuck together. 

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, oil, milk and orange juice.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until just mixed, with a little flour still showing. 

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups. Top with the extra chocolate chips, if desired. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pans and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

As mentioned above, it’s Muffin Monday! Check out the list of tasty muffins my friends are sharing with you today below. 

• Greek Lemon Yogurt Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Lemon Zucchini Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Whole Wheat Fig and Honey Muffins from Magical Ingredients

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Coconut Chickpea New Potato Curry

The spiciness of this vegetarian coconut chickpea new potato curry is mellowed by the addition of thick coconut cream creating a rich sauce your family will love.

Here’s the thing about curry. It means different dishes to different people. 

My first introduction to curry was in the small two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago where we lived when I was a child. Trinidadian curry powder is bright yellow with a heavy emphasis on cumin, ginger and turmeric.  

In Burma curry is made with a paste of ginger, onion and garlic fried lightly in oil until fragrant. Chili peppers are added to the pot and a couple of sticks of rolled cinnamon bark simmer with the sauce if it's a chicken curry or lemon grass if it's seafood, but no other spices are used. 

Since my years in Trinidad, I’ve lived in three other countries where curry is a national dish so I’ve picked up more recipes than I can count. My spice cupboard is well stocked and I usually grind my own spices but in the case of this simple, tasty coconut chickpea new potato curry, whatever curry powder you have on hand will do nicely.

The coconut cream is essential though because I love how coconut milk or cream enrich curry sauce and I think you will too. 

Coconut Chickpea New Potato Curry

This vegetarian/vegan friendly dish is rich and flavorful enough to satisfy most carnivores but you can add one or two cubed boneless skinless chicken breasts in with the chickpeas and potatoes, if you’d like. Lengthen cooking time as needed to make sure they are cooked through, if you do. 

Ingredients

14 oz or 400g small new potatoes 

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons curry powder (I used a Malaysian blend.)

1 large chili pepper

1/2 medium onion

1 clove garlic

3 in or 40g piece of fresh ginger

3/4 cup or 190g chopped canned tomatoes

1 can chickpeas (14 oz or 400g), drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup or coconut cream from top of can

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Method

Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water for 12-15 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool slightly. 

Meanwhile, mince your chili pepper, garlic and ginger and chop your onion finely. 

When the potatoes are done, turn them out of the pot and drain.

Heat the oil and pop in the curry powder. Fry for just a few seconds then add the onion, ginger and chili pepper. Cook over a medium heat until well softened. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes. 

Add in the tomatoes, sugar, salt, half a cup or 120ml water and cook over medium low heat, covered, for about half an hour. Take the lid off and cook down until reduced by half. 

Add in the coconut cream and stir to combine.

Strain and rinse your chickpeas. Add the potatoes and chickpeas to sauce. Cook covered for another 10 minutes. 

Taste and add more salt if needed. A good few grinds of fresh black pepper never go amiss. Serve with rice and/or flatbread. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and this week our theme is the humble chickpea, also known as garbanzo beans, chana, Bengal gram, just to name a few. Check out all the great recipes we are sharing below.

• Chana Chaat - Chickpea Chaat from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Coconut Chickpea New Potato Curry from Food Lust People Love
• Hummus Flatbread Caprese from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Instant Pot Chickpeas - How to Cook Dried Chickpeas from Cook with Renu
• Pindi Chole from Sneha's Recipe
• Spicy Rosemary Roasted Carrot Hummus from Amy’s Cooking Adventures

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Potage de Crécy - French Carrot Soup

Potage de Crécy or French Carrot Soup is a traditional dish made from sweet carrots with rice as a thickener. It’s smooth, savory and delicious!

The story behind this very traditional French soup is that is it named for Crécy-en-Ponthieu , a town in northern France that is said to produce carrots with the best flavor in the country. I’ve done a little research and visited several sites about the town and their claim to carrot fame isn’t mentioned these days. 

I did find out more information about the battle that started the Hundred Years’ War which was fought there in 1346.  Despite its name, the war lasted 116 years and involved not just the English who started it by attacking the French on their own soil, but it grew to encompass much of what is now considered Europe. Who knew? 

Certain historians fix the creation of Potage de Crécy on this date, because it would have been made to nourished the British army. In fact, it has also been suggested that the soup was served to triumphant English soldiers after the battle was over, with carrots sourced (pillaged?) from Crécy. Talk about kicking a town when they are already down!

To commemorate the battle, this soup was eaten King Edward VII each year on August 26th, the day of the battle in honor of his ancestor, Edward of Woodstock who led the battle. Today seems an appropriate time to share the recipe. 

Potage de Crécy - French Carrot Soup

I’ve added fine sea salt as an ingredient but how much you will need depends greatly on how salty your stock is. A little salt always seems to help accentuate the sweetness of the carrots though. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 small shallots, finely chopped

1 small stalk celery, stringed and finely chopped

1 pound sweet carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

1/4 cup or 45g rice, preferably Arborio 

5 1/4 cups or 1.25L chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon sugar

fine sea salt, to taste as needed

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Optional for garnish:

Chopped fresh herbs, such as chives or parsley

1 cup toasted croutons

Method

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium-low heat and add the shallot and celery. 

Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. 

Add the carrots, cover partially and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender and fragrant. 

Add the rice, stock and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until the carrots are completely soft.

Blend the soup either with a hand blender or in a blender, in batches. Do be careful not to splash or overfill as the hot soup will scald you. 

Return to the pot. 

Stir and taste. Adjust salt, add a generous amount of freshly ground pepper, and heat through. If the sweetness of the carrots needs a boost, add another pinch of sugar.

Serve, garnishing each bowl with sprinkle of herbs. Put the croutons on the table and let people help themselves. (I did make croutons! They just didn't get in the photos.)

Enjoy! 

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- French Carrot Soup!

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Creamy Hatch Chili Pepper Spinach Chicken

Truly, the title "creamy Hatch chili pepper spinach chicken" says it all: Tender breasts in a spicy, succulent sauce! Serve over rice or pasta to complete the meal. 

Years ago, when we lived in Brazil (circa 1993-1999) one of my closest friend’s husband was from New Mexico. They made it a point to travel home during Hatch chili pepper season (or would enlist relatives to make their purchases) and they would return to our small town of Macáe with bags and bags of frozen roasted peppers to use all year. I had never heard of Hatch peppers but being a lover of all things chili pepper, I was quickly hooked.

The name Hatch chili actually refers to the area in which they are grown - the Hatch Valley - but generally they are a long green pepper with a mild heat but lots of flavor.  

We moved to Houston in 1999 and I hoped for New Mexican peppers, but Hatch peppers hadn’t made it there yet. It took another few years but eventually, Hatch season became a thing, even that far east due to Central Market, the upscale purveyor of gourmet food owned by the parent company of Texas grocery store H-E-B. 

Central Market brought in the peppers by the truckload and the immense roasters (think huge turning cages like you'd put raffle tickets in!) and roasted them fresh outside of their stores. Since then, other area supermarkets have gotten in on the action and the Houston air on the weekends right now is filled with aroma of charred peppers.

Make note: If you are lucky enough to be able to travel to New Mexico, the Hatch Chile Festival takes place every year on Labor Day weekend in Hatch, NM. This year they celebrate their 50th anniversary so it should be a lot of fun. 

Creamy Hatch Chili Pepper Spinach Chicken

Yep, it’s Hatch chili pepper season again and, as promised, here’s my first recipe using that wonderful pepper. It’s quite easy to make but the flavor is out of this world wonderful! Because I lack freezer space, I like to roast my own in the oven but you can use the already roasted ones, if you can get your hands on them. 

Ingredients - to serve six

For the creamy hatch chili pepper sauce:

4 fresh hatch chili peppers

juice from half a lime

2 cloves garlic

1 cup or 240ml heavy cream

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the chicken:

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 8oz or 225g each)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

For optional garnish: chopped cilantro or parsley

Method

Broil the peppers on a baking sheet until they’re charred and black all over on both sides. 

Put them in a plastic bag for about five minutes to loosen the peels. Open the bag and let the peppers cool until you can handle them with bare hands. Rub or pull the peels off. Cut the stem end off and discard. If you like things spicy, leave the seeds. If not, remove the seeds and discard. 

Chop the garlic cloves roughly. 

Place the peppers in a food processor with the garlic, lime juice and sour cream. 

Blend until combined and smooth. Add a good pinch or two of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. 

Refrigerate until you are ready to cook the chicken. The earlier ahead you make this, the better it is! 

Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise. 

Sprinkle them with the vinegar on both sides then sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. 

Drizzle your pan with olive oil and then pan fry the chicken breasts over a high heat until golden both sides. You may need to do this in two batches, depending on the size of your pan.

In that case, remove the browned breasts to a plate then pan-fry the second batch. The chicken does not need to be cooked completely through at this point. It will finish cooking, simmering in the creamy hatch sauce.

When all the chicken is browned and on the plate, add the baby spinach leaves to the pan and cover for a few minutes, until the spinach starts to wilt. 

Remove the lid and cook for a few more minutes until the spinach liquid evaporates.

Add the creamy hatch sauce back to the pan. Stir to combine and heat gently to warm. 

Tuck the browned chicken pieces into the sauce. 

Spoon it over to cover. Simmer till chicken is cooked through.

Sprinkle with a little chopped cilantro or parsley to garnish, if desired. 

Serve over rice or pasta. 

Enjoy! 

Do you get Hatch chili peppers where you live? For more information about these great peppers and possible substitutes, Chili Pepper Madness is a great source. 

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Spinach Chicken!

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