Tasty, Yet Crazy- Spring Rolls

 

     This week finds outdoor temps rocking triple digits with humidity to match. Getting nourishing meals on the table in this heat can be quite a challenge and salads get old rather quickly. One solution we have tried is spring rolls; quick and healthy, right?

       If you are not familiar with spring roll wrappers let me share: they are made of rice flour and starch, paper thin, and..well, different. On one particular afternoon, I gathered roast chicken and leftover salad to go into my spring roll wrappers. Following directions found online, I dipped the wrapper into water and ever so carefully patted it on a tea towel before filling it..not too full.

       The farm boy and I love these quick and tasty rolls with balsamic dressing..believe it or not my husband ate them with us. He found them less than appealing admitting he only tasted them because of our daughters' priceless reaction the first time I made them.

        On that first attempt I placed a plate full of these pretty see through rolls in front of my starving teens. Pride and joy beamed from me at my amazing gourmet accomplishment; the reactions were...priceless.

   Teen #1: the mere sight of the see through wraps sent her into 'no way no how' land. Tasting it was not an option.
   Teen #2: excitement at the sight of these healthy rolls (we had seen them on a cooking show)..until she picked it up. Seems the texture of the 'wet and clammy' roll reminded her of 'dead people skin'. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to taste it...and then she equated it to the feeling of a 'hunk of skin on the roof of your mouth after you burn it on hot soup'..ok.
   Teen #3: could care less what it looked like, slid right passed the texture, and scoffed two down without even swallowing. His only comment was it took too long to make them..apparently he was starving to death.

      I suppose the moral of the story is; spring rolls are not for every one. We even baked them once with similar response..I believe teen #2 said it tasted like dry dead people skin. What is she, a zombie? Who knows what dead people skin tastes like anyway? Teen #1 and #2 no longer live with us, one is married and one in college.. and my husband, well, his work schedule keeps him from having to eat them with the farm boy and I. Never the less, every time these find their way to our dinner plate we seize the opportunity to do a little teasing...who could ever forget 'dead people skin'?


**We make them with any finely copped veggies and meat, but have also tried them with fruit. The fruit ones are excellent dipped in a honey-yogurt!