Lunch in Thailand....I wish!

On Wednesday Brad and Kami came to do yard work.  They have been coming every week to mow, remove brush and help in the garden.  Our yard is looking good this year.

My job is to provide lunch.

Weis Market had snow crab legs on sale this week so I decided on a Thai themed lunch with fresh spring rolls and pineapple fried rice to accompany them.  I love fresh spring rolls on a hot summer day and I thought they would be great after working out in the hot sun.

There is no real recipe for them, just a few basic ingredients.

An essential ingredient is the bahn trang rice paper wrapper.

The cellophane noodles are optional.

I usually get these ingredients at an Asian grocery but larger supermarkets have them too.

Next you need:
leaf lettuce, like romaine, green leaf, butter crunch
strips of zucchini, cucumber, or carrot
shredded meat, chicken, pork, shrimp, beef, whatever you like
cilantro and some mint of you like it

 I start by putting about 1/4 pack of the cellophane noodles in a bowl of water and microwaving them for about three minutes until they are pliable.  Drain them.  Then I snip them with kitchen shears roughly into short pieces and set aside.

Next I put warm water in a shallow pie pan wide enough to hold the rice paper wrapper and begin soaking one wrapper at a time.  You only want to soak the wrapper until it just begins to become pliable.  If you soak it too long it will get squishy and tear.

Less pliable is better than too mushy!!!

Lay it out on a cutting board or smooth surface and put the lettuce leaf on the upper half.

Pile on the meat, noodles, veggies and cilantro, but not too thick that you won't be able to roll it up.
I drizzle on a little bit of this Asian sesame dressing for extra flavor. 
Cooking can be exhausting so Deiter is taking a nap.

 And then start rolling, using the lettuce leaf to keep the ingredients where they belong.  About halfway down, fold in the sides and continue rolling.  Those are Kami's lovely hands doing the work.

And here are the finished spring rolls.

We used the Asian sesame dressing for a dipping sauce but there are many nice soy based recipes that you can Google that are fast and easy to make.

The crab legs were yummy and the pineapple rice was a nice side.

While we were having a lovely lunch the second shift was out working in the yard.
The minute Brad and Zip came inside, these two characters hopped on the mower.  They are father and son feral cats who live outside.

We provide food and shelter.  They come close but really don't want to be touched.  They don't mind a ride on the lawn mower, though.