A Light Meal Between Holiday Feasts

For me, part of surviving the holidays while still indulging in everything wonderful that the season brings is sneaking healthy bites when you can. Last night, I made these super light spring rolls out of some of my organics that came in my local produce delivery. It's a great light recipe for a small meal between decadent ones.

I love buying rice paper to make spring rolls because you can throw in almost any veggies you have and wrap them up into a light, delicious meal. They can be hard to find, but I have gotten them at World Market or other specialty stores that have international foods (or an actual Asian grocery place). Also in this recipe: daikon. Incase you're not familiar with it, it's a radish that looks like a big white carrot. It is often used in vietnamese recipes, pickled, like in traditional vietnamese sandwiches (called "Banh Mi". Note: if you live in Chicago and want to try some really good ones on the cheap, check out Bon Bon Vietnamese Sandwiches in Wicker Park). Daikon is really good in other asian-inspired recipes like this one.

Shrimp, Daikon, and Watercress Spring Rolls

Ingredients:
Rice paper wrappers
Watercress
Daikon, peeled and cut into matchsticks
Medium Cooked Shrimp
Romaine lettuce, chopped into fine ribbons (optional)

To make these, you just need to wet the rice paper so it becomes flexible, and arrange your ingredients in the middle. To fold into a roll, just wrap the ingredients as you would a burrito or a sandwich wrap. The paper will stick closed as it becomes more dry. I wrapped the ones above loosely since I packed them full of lettuce and watercress so they were big enough for a meal, but you can make them any size you want, depending on if it's a meal or an appetizer.

For dressing, you can either put it on before wrapping up the ingredients or use it as dip. I used this dressing I get from Whole Foods as a dip. It is really good and often you can find it on sale - the miso ginger really complements the spring roll fillings and it's pretty light since it's a vinaigrette.

Happy Holidays! Please stay tuned - I will try to post my recipes coming up for Christmas and NYE, and possibly finally do an overview of my Thanksgiving recipes, which work for these holidays, too :) Happy feasting