Spicy Vegetable Spring Rolls

Even though it's not spring, these could easily be called summer rolls. I love the cold, crisp vegetables when it's super hot outside. Everything is raw. This recipe doesn't call for much direction other than the rolling method and the sauce, which I made. You can totally use your favorite dipping confection if you have one that you like. But of course, I encourage you to experiment and make your own! Nut sauces are super easy and only require a few ingredients, most of which I think you probably already have in your pantry. You can get the rice paper wrappers and rice noodles at any health food or asian grocery store. And, as always, there is so much room here for personal modifications. I have made a million versions of these. You can add good quality shrimp or salmon or tuna to make it more like traditional sushi and you can substitute any of these vegetables for others that you prefer. Be adventurous!

INGREDIENTS
1 package rice paper wraps
rice noodles
vegetables of your choice
cucumber
bell pepper
carrot
napa cabbage
red cabbage
jalapeno
avocado
cilantro

SAUCE
peanut, almond or cashew butter
tamari or soy sauce
rice wine vinegar
sesame oil
honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar
lime juice
cilantro
crushed red pepper

DIRECTIONS
It doesn't get any easier than this. No heat, totally raw. It does require a little knife work, however. Everything works best when julienned which is a matchstick cut. You can do this with a mandolin or manually with a chef's knife.  Cut all of your vegetables into long, thin slices. Do the same with the fish if you're including that. Rice noodles are instant. You can do this first while you prep your filling. Cut the avocado into long pieces inside each half. The rice papers are hard in the package but get dipped in water for a few seconds to soften. Do them one at a time and assemble your rolls on a cutting board. It's like folding a burrito. Put everything in the lower third of the circle and then fold the ends over, then roll tight. That's it! The sauce assembly is just mixing everything together and adjusting the salty, sweetness. If you want it thicker, add more nut butter. Garnish with fresh cilantro or chives and devour!

ENJOY!

Vanilla - Infused Dream Whip

You will never buy that awful, store-bought whipped topping again after tasting what REAL whipped cream is like. First, the ingredients are super basic and there is no corn syrup or oils, which are totally unnecessary anyway. This is made from pure, organic cream with three forms of real vanilla and a little coconut sugar. Frozen, it's nearly ice cream and from the refrigerator, it's amazing on top of your favorite dessert. I put it between two of my Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies as a sandwich and my kids were in heaven! Try it on top of my Dark Chocolate Super Brownies or with frozen bananas and my Dark Magic Shell. All of these recipes can be found right here on the site. The cookies and brownies are gluten free, low on the glycemic index, full of healthy ingredients and wide open for lots of tasty embellishments to suit your lifestyle!

INGREDIENTS
1 pint of organic heavy cream
vanilla paste or 1 whole vanilla bean
vanilla extract
vanilla salt
2 tablespoons coconut sugar

DIRECTIONS
Using a hand mixer is the easiest way to go. You can do this by hand but it will take a little longer and a little elbow grease. Pour the cream into a medium-sized bowl. If you are using whole vanilla bean instead of the paste, take a sharp knife and split the bean in half. Take the end of the blade and scrape the resin from the inside of each half into the bowl on top of the cream. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, the coconut sugar and a few dashes of the vanilla salt. Now mix! This process to go from thick cream to a dreamy, airy whip takes about ten minutes of constant stirring. You will see it get thicker and fuller as it comes together and then eventually, thick folds begin to form and peaks come to the top. You're finished! Store this in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or freezer. Lasts about a week in the fridge, longer in the freezer.

ENJOY!!

Vanilla - Infused Dream Whip

You will never buy that awful, store-bought whipped topping again after tasting what REAL whipped cream is like. First, the ingredients are super basic and there is no corn syrup or oils, which are totally unnecessary anyway. This is made from pure, organic cream with three forms of real vanilla and a little coconut sugar. Frozen, it's nearly ice cream and from the refrigerator, it's amazing on top of your favorite dessert. I put it between two of my Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies as a sandwich and my kids were in heaven! Try it on top of my Dark Chocolate Super Brownies or with frozen bananas and my Dark Magic Shell. All of these recipes can be found right here on the site by searching for them in the right hand sidebar.  The cookies and brownies are gluten free, low on the glycemic index, full of healthy ingredients and wide open for lots of tasty embellishments to suit your lifestyle!

INGREDIENTS
1 pint of organic heavy cream
vanilla paste or 1 whole vanilla bean
vanilla extract
vanilla salt
2 tablespoons coconut sugar

DIRECTIONS
Using a hand mixer is the easiest way to go. You can do this by hand but it will take a little longer and a little elbow grease. Pour the cream into a medium-sized bowl. If you are using whole vanilla bean instead of the paste, take a sharp knife and split the bean in half. Take the end of the blade and scrape the resin from the inside of each half into the bowl on top of the cream. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, the coconut sugar and a few dashes of the vanilla salt. Now mix! This process to go from thick cream to a dreamy, airy whip takes about ten minutes of constant stirring. You will see it get thicker and fuller as it comes together and then eventually, thick folds begin to form and peaks come to the top. You're finished! Store this in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or freezer. Lasts about a week in the fridge, longer in the freezer.

ENJOY!!