L2C Challenge – Half Baked Harvest Super Simple – Curried Thai Spring Roll Lettuce Wraps

This week – CURRIED THAI SPRING ROLL LETTUCE WRAPS (p. 155)

Ok, so I know that the recipes I’ve chosen from this book make it seem as though it is all Asian-inspired food but, it really isn’t, there are a lot of different recipes in here – I’m just gravitating towards Thai food lately… Plus, you’ll notice this week’s ingredients are very similar to the ones I purchased for last week’s beef, so I chose these spring rolls in part to make use of the items that I already had in my pantry.

And, as usual, Tieghan did not disappoint with these wraps!

Ingredients –

• Rice Noodles
• Bell Peppers
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Fresh basil leaves
• Romaine lettuce
• Avocados
• Lime wedges

• Chopped peanuts
• Fresno chiles
• Rice vinegar
• Thai sweet chili sauce
• Peanut butter
• Low-Sodium soy sauce
• Red curry paste
• Sesame oil

Difficulty level –

This is another beginner recipe. The prep work was straightforward and quick. You can prep everything ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Then, when ready to eat, just cook the pasta and everything else is tossed together afterwards.

Price –

Since this is my second Thai recipe in just over a week, I had almost everything I needed to make these rolls. The only ingredient purchased was the red curry paste; so total this week was $6.

Things I Googled While Making this Recipe –

• What are Fresno chiles? Turns out they’re the same as Fresno peppers.

Alterations to Recipe –

The only change I made to this recipe was to use jalapeños peppers instead of the Fresno chiles simply because I had those on hand. The rest was so straightforward that I didn’t have to change a thing.

Verdict –

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Full disclosure, I made this for lunch, not dinner. I don’t think lettuce wraps alone would be enough for a dinner-time meal but it was the perfect amount for lunch. It also makes lots and keeps really well, so I ate lettuce wraps for about 3 days! The peanut sauce is versatile and I used it as a veggie dip during the week. I’ll be making this one many times over – it is fresh, light and really savoury.

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L2C Challenge – Half Baked Harvest Super Simple – Thai Basil Beef

This week – THAI BASIL BEEF WITH PEANUT SALSA (p. 213)

My Asian food cravings are still going strong (nope, not pregnant, just hungry…), so this week we tried the Thai Basil Beef dish and, to be honest, even before I read the description, Tieghan had me at “Peanut Salsa”…

Ingredients –

• Rice Noodles
• Ground Beef
• Fresh basil leaves
• Limes
• Salted peanuts
• Fresno peppers
• Onions

• Sesame Oil
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Carrots
• Thai sweet chili sauce
• Low-Sodium soy sauce
• Mint leaves

Difficulty level –

I prepped the veggies beforehand, so that wasn’t too bad when it came time to assemble things but it did require putting the different ingredients into various bowls, so the clean up was longer than I like on weeknights… In terms of the actual process of making the meal, in my opinion, this is another beginner level dish. The only “criticism” I would make is that once you start cooking you do have to stay by the stove the whole time. There’s only about 5 minutes between each step and you need to be prepping for the next stage so not much time to chase after (I mean… “attend to”) the kids while making this.

Price –

I only had the sesame oil, soy sauce, carrots and onions on hand, so I spent approximately $40 on this dish. I will say, however, that there was quite a bit leftover so Paolo and I were each able to get a second meal from this recipe.

Things I Googled While Making this Recipe –

• Different types of rice noodles? There was about 5 different packs of noodles in the grocery store and they all said “rice noodles”!
• What are fresno peppers? Similar in look to the jalapeño peppers but with less heat.

Alterations to the Recipe –

The ingredients are pretty straightforward for this one so there wasn’t much to change. The only substitute I made was with the noodle size – the picture in the cookbook shows a thinner noodle but I opted for the large noodle and don’t regret it (it soaked up the flavours perfectly!).

Verdict –

I have an unexplainable desire to change my verdict from my past reviews just to be different but I can’t – this is again 100% a make-again dish. The recipe was delicious when eaten fresh but just as good (Paolo said it was better) reheated the next day. Plus, in addition to extras, there was lots of peanut salsa leftover which I mixed in with some plain chicken breast and rice for a tastier lunch during the week.