Tonight’s dinner was fantastically fresh. BLT Summer rolls, blanched veggies, and a ranch sauce for dipping.
When I read this BlogHer post, I became obsessed with finding rice paper. Easier said than done… but finally I found a “hole in the wall” Asian grocery store, and they had them. So I happily carted them home, and filled them with chopped lettuce, cooked bacon, and thin slices of local heirloom tomatoes ($4 a pound but so worth it, and hardly any seeds/slime… just juicy flavorful goodness).
The vegetables are asparagus and some local wax beans I picked up at the farmer’s market in Hanford. To blanch, just bring water to boiling, throw in veggies (just a bit at a time or your water temp will drop too much), cook for a couple minutes until the color is bright, then plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. They’re not raw, but crunchy and crisp, and retain their freshness (seriously, if you wanted to freeze green veggies, this is how to do it so they don’t get nasty in the freezer – blanch first, then freeze).
We dipped everything into the homemade Ranch sauce, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on this summer evening.
What FRESH dinners are you enjoying now? What are you looking forward to as summer goes on?
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
[...] A BLT Summer Roll recipe from Joyful Abode. [...]
These look so wonderful!! I can’t wait to try them out!!
Yummo! Do you have a recipe for your homemade Ranch?
Yummmmmmmm. I’m so gonna try that when it gets warmer here ( currently winter down under!). But a couple of awesome summer faves I have:
1. Grilled garlic Lamb, Tatziki and Tabouleh
2. Baked Salmon with grilled asparagus and zucchini
NOMS!
Trying to grow my basil stash to make lots of batches of homemade pesto!!! My kids lovvvvvve pesto dishes. And so TJ and I! Also would love to get some really delicious tomatoes to make bruschetta. Your tweet the other night reminded me I want to make kabobs for the kids and maybe grill them on a nice summer night. I.love.summer!