Beet and Mango Spring Rolls

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this enough, but I love Whole Foods. And I don’t think I’ve mentioned this at all, but I’ve recently moved to Austin and have found myself in Whole Foods headquarters. There’s something special about wondering the aisles of a grocery store late at night. When you can actually hear the music over the rustle of the shopping carts, and employees have the time to smile and ask you if there’s anything you would like to try. It’s like Disney World closed for the day in order to host a private party just for you. Everything screams “be our guest.”

All this aside, I stopped off at the mecca of Whole Foods on Sunday to grab a drink, and soon realized this was no easy task. For one, you can’t just pop into the mothership of Whole Foods without paying your dues. For another, you can’t just drop by Whole Foods on a Sunday afternoon and expect to get anywhere fast. It’s the amusement park of grocery stores and you must be “this patient” in order to stand in line. While waiting in one of these said lines for a build-your-own juice that I had so generously, and now regretfully, offered to pick up for a friend, I studied the menu board. I realized that many of those smoothies/juices could double as delicious meals when left unblended, so when Monday rolled around, I realized that the order I had transcribed for my friend would make for some delicious spring rolls. So thank you Kaska for being my inspiration, and thank you Whole Foods for making all my food dreams come true. I’ll still wait in your lines, but might I suggest a Fast Pass for frequent shoppers.

Makes about 4 spring rolls

Rolls:

Rice wrappers

1/2 cup chopped beets (I went the easy route and took these from the Whole Foods salad bar)

1/2 cup chopped cucumber (same with these)

1 mango, diced

6-8 basil leaves, ribboned (tutorial in directions)

Half a bag of vermicelli noodles

Head of kale

Sauce: 

Sesame seeds (optional)

Soy sauce

Sriracha sauce

Sesame oil

Lime

• Cook vermicelli noodles according to package – about 5 minutes in boiling water.

• Mix ingredients for sauce as you see fit. I like my sauces to be heavier on the sesame oil and sriracha, but I’ll let you be the judge. Peanut butter would also be a nice addition.

• Ribbon the basil leaves. Do this by stacking a few leaves on top of each other, rolling them up, then slicing vertically (shout out Mrs. Sheffield for this tutorial!

• Dip the rice wrappers one at a time in warm water for about 5 seconds. Layer with kale (I would suggest ripping the leaves off the center vein as it tends to be extra crunchy), vermicelli noodles, mango, beet, cucumber, and basil.

• Roll, slice, and dip.

Cracker Jack Cookies

Today marked the first play-off game for my “super social” softball team. “Super social” meaning we’re better at drinking beer than playing ball.

I felt this milestone had to be celebrated with dessert, and what better treat to complement a softball game than Cracker Jack cookies. As someone who works in marketing, I want to give a head nod to whichever marketing genius got this product placed into “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Free marketing that went down in history, I hope someone got a raise.

I’ll refrain from making any cheesy comparisons of these cookies to baseball terms, but do know that they are pretty good. Plus, if you’re the one making these, you get first dibs on that coveted Cracker Jack prize.

Keeping in Cracker Jack spirit, I’ll even reward you for reading this post. Fun fact: In 2004, the Yankees tried to replace Cracker Jack with Crunch ‘n Munch, but after the public outcry they immediately switched back. It’s just not the same without Sailor Jack and his trusty dog, Bingo.

1/2 cup, unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup, light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup, sugar

1 teaspoon, salt

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon, vanilla extract

1 and 1/4 cup, all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon, baking soda

4 cups, Cracker Jacks

Directions

Borrowed from: Eat My Words

• Preheat oven to 350.

• Mix butter, sugars, and salt in large mixing bowl. Then, add in egg and vanilla.

• In separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Stir into butter-sugar mixture.

• Fold popcorn into dough until popcorn is coated.

• Drop tablespoon-sized scoops onto greased pan. Bake for 8-9 minutes (I undercooked mine to keep the popcorn crispy.)

 

Then, take these out to the ball game!