Blue veggie Spring rolls with lemon balm pesto

Today’s Spring roll are blue, leafy and full of crunchy veggies. I dip them in delicately creamy lemon balm pesto sauce.

The blue color comes from takana (Japanese mustard leaves).

I’ve used 3 layers of rice paper. First 1 layer of RP, 1 of leaves, 1 of RP, the other veggies.

I’ve rolled that and wrapped around 1 more RP. So the blue takana leaves are visible, and some green parts too. They don’t reveal the filling.

Inside : grated carrot, broad beans (blanched), young onion, powdered roasted sesame seeds and a little curry powder blend.

Pesto : lemon balm, a few leaves of beet greens, garlic, olive oil, salt. Plus some water to make it a sauce.

Mint cha gio, all your green leftovers inside Spring rolls

Veggies to use or lose, combined to an envy of nems as we say in France. I mean cha gio, the Vietnamese Spring rolls, that are a French favorite deli food. These rolls can be made in great style with many ingredients, deep fried and all. It’s a quick and casual version.

The filling is very simple : Minced lettuce, mint, garlic, onion and ginger. Salt, pepper. Mashed white beans. Fold in rice paper. Let a few hours to allow flavors to mix.

They could be eaten raw… if you don’t mind raw garlic and onion that are a bit strong. I pan-fried them.

The sauce : pounded garlic, brown sugar, a pinch of salt, chili and plenty of rice vinegar.

One side dish is a quick tsukemono (pickles) : grated daikon radish, broccoli leaves, cut sakura leaves, a little salt. Let 20 minutes then squeeze away excess liquid. A second dish is a “stalk” stir-fry in the space of pan next to the rolls. The menu :

Leaves and buds, plant powered early Spring meal

The big lunch. A veggie orgy.
You have seen already 3 dishes, here is the final installment.

I cooked this with all the veggies leftovers I had. Spring cabbage and maitake mushrooms that you see here. Also onion, kintoki red carrot and I’ve added potatoes. At the end, more greens of shungiku.

The veggies are cooked without oil, steamed in the pan. Just salt. They bring enough complementary flavors.

The dish : jardinière de légumes (vegetable garden lady). That looks dry, but it’s very mushy, soft and juicy.

Garlic and yuzu sautéed tsubomina. That you are detailed here.

The main dish maybe is the tofu on wasabi leaves, from this post.

The last slice of this delicious black sesame azuki bean terrine that I had frozen, a while ago (here). I had 2 huge bean terrines that fed me for a while. Now I need to bake the next ones.

Garlic and yuzu sautéed tsubomina

A simple and incredibly tasty dish.

I had a pack of tsubomina (more here). I’ve cleaned and cut them.

I cut some yellow peel from a yuzu lemon, and minced garlic. And I cooked in a drying pan. At the end, I’ve added more peel, salt and a splash of yuzu juice.

Mmmm…

Today’s ramen, tan tan tan…

Inspired by tan tan men. But it’s really free style with what I had in stock. That was delicious.

Boiled ramen noodles and bok choi.

The ground mix : azuki beans, minced onion and garlic, chili paste, spices, stir-fried.

Added hot broth, and sesame paste (black and white, that’s why it’s gray). The paste is not very aesthetic, but it brings fat and creaminess. More chili. And parsley.

Some tempura (onion and tsubomina), as a side, to place on top.