Spring Rolls: Yum

[MegInNOLA 531]

This is not so much a recipe as a method. It's perfect for hot summer days. Now that I'm more than a year out, I'm still looking for ways to focus on getting my Protein in. My sleeve is super-picky STILL and doesn't like most meat/chicken/certain types of fish, but he LOVES shellfish and veggies. My husband and I love sushi and used to eat Thai food a lot pre-surgery (we're both sleevers). I decided to try making spring rolls at home, and it's SUPER easy and really tasty, plus I get in some good Protein. For us, it's a no-cook meal, since we live in Louisiana and have easy access to excellent pre-cooked shrimp at every grocery in town.

I use the regular-size spring roll wrappers; we get them at our local grocery, but you can order them online or through Amazon if your grocery doesn't have them; you can also find them at international or Asian food groceries. Ours are actually made with wheat flour, but they come made from rice, too. They're super thin; I "guesstimate" that one wrapper has probably 40-50 calories.

Just roll up whatever you want--I julienne some cucumber, shred some carrot, slice some boiled shrimp, and spoon up some "krab salad" (that surimi stuff that mimics crab). Sometimes I use those cellophane bean noodles--all you do to prepare those is soak them in warm Water and drain thoroughly. We use some shredded lettuce or cabbage--whatever sounds good and that we have in the house--and a bit of cilantro. If you hate cilantro, just leave it out or substitute some basil or mint. Then we just wrap these up in a wrapper, seal with a wet finger, and chow down. We dip in whatever sounds good, soy sauce or my personal favorite, a mix of Thai chili sauce (it's really sweet and hot) and soy sauce. Sometimes I sprinkle the lettuce with rice wine vinegar; sometimes I forget that. :-)

Perfect post-sleeve portion--one spring roll works for me, and two for my husband. We keep the fixin's in the fridge for a quick meal/snack, and they're fast to put together.

If you live somewhere without fresh shrimp available, you can absolutely get those flash-frozen shrimp and thaw a couple at a time for use in your spring rolls. You can also use grilled chicken, if your sleeve is cool with chicken, and sometimes I sneak in a piece of avocado--ups the yummy factor!! Enjoy!

[NancyJerry 139]

Wow! Sounds awesome! Will you come cook for me?? LOL! How fun that you and your husband both have the sleeve - I mean I've got great support but to have someone who "gets it" from the inside would be awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[kamrie37 134]

sound good! so you don't cook it after you roll it?

[MegInNOLA 531]

No, you don't cook it after you roll it. There are rolls you can cook--most Thai restaurants will have some fresh spring rolls and some "fried," but the fried ones usually have cabbage, baby shrimp, maybe some ground pork, etc., and they're deep fried, which is NOT sleeve-friendly for me at least. The fresh ones are light and delicious, no cooking required--well, except the seafood, unless you're into sushi. I have actually had these with sushi-grade raw salmon, which was delicious!! But my fav is with the shrimp, which is boiled and chilled (like the shrimp for shrimp cocktail).