East-West Thai Basil Salad Rolls

.
That poor, sweet darling of a man, The Ombudsman, has had a very up and down two weeks.

The boy got himself a bit sick, then moved on to much sicker, then was in agony, and then went to a meeting in at his office (his office that is an excellent example of stylish 1960's post modern architecture, I must add) and then passed out and then drove himself home and then the next day decided maybe it was time to go to the emergency room.

Aww. Poor puddin'. Broke my heart. He was trying to be so brave...(and yet he makes a good argument for "so smart, yet so dumb," don't you think?)

And then, while still a bit ill, he surprised me with two very much lauded and supremely desired tickets to see the extremely awesome spectacle that is Grizzly Bear play on a bill with our very own Los Angeles Philharmonic. (Harmonic indeed.)

The man is a peach I tell you, a peach.

I was a bit worried for him as we set out, (what with the temporary deafness, insane cough and heavy dosage of assorted prescriptions) but he assured me all was well, and he was excited to be out and about after all that he had gone through.

Well, he made it through and I am happy to say the concert was beyond awesome, and bless his heart, he is fine now, (phew). But I was compelled (and pleased) to make him his favorite, elaborate salad/finger food the next day, as thanks for a perfect, lovley evening which he really, really shouldn't have done. But I'm glad he did.

And now you dolls, I am sharing with you.

Try it and taste the joy.


1 large head romaine lettuce
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
½ cup fresh Thai basil
1 fresh lemongrass stalk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 rice paper rounds
2 mini red bell peppers, sliced into rounds

In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, vinegar and lime juice together to dissolve the sugar.

Peel off the hard outer layer of the lemon grass and mince the soft core.
Reserve 8-12 leaves of the basil and mince the rest. Add the lemon grass, basil and mayo to the lime juice. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Cut the lettuce leaves into 3 inch strips and divide into four portions.

Quickly dip one rice paper wrapper in warm water until softened. It will feel rubbery.
Then, cut it in half.

Lay out a half round on the work surface, with the straight edge away from you. Arrange one of the portions of romaine and a few basil leaves in a little pile about 3 inches from the right edge of the paper, letting the tips of the leaves extend over the straight edge. Fold the bottom up over the greens, then fold the right side up over the greens and roll the lettuce up in the wrapper. Continue with the remaining rice paper and romaine.

Drizzle the dressing on a plate and top with two salad rolls, garnish with pepper rounds and serve.

Serves four as a first course.

© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking

______________________________________

© 2008 Rachael at "Fresh Approach Cooking" www.freshcatering.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of infringing upon terms of copyright.

Well, I'm pouty! We drove by last night only to find out The Coronet Pub closed down. Darn it!

Basil is sacred to both the Sub-Asian deities, Krishna and Vishnu. You can buy Sacred Holy Krishna Basil seeds here.

This recipe is an extremely altered version of the Romaine on Romaine recipe in Michel Richard's stunning and brilliant book, Happy in the Kitchen. Make sure to check it out sometime!