These should be on everyones diet - or everyone who is trying to squeeze themselves into a dress in 20 days! They are super easy to make and wildly tasty. Plus they are crunchy, filling and you won't have any complaints, unless you're serving them to a caveman. My caveman, the mister, asked if they were Vietnamese shrimp rolls...when I said no he asked if they had chicken in them...no again...then he asked if they had pork rolled up inside...no, no, and no. As a meat and potatoes man, he is never thrilled when he is served something meat-free...he is suspicious of vegetarian meals, like I'm trying to subvert the core of his beliefs...as if he has any...as if his eating green means spotted owls and salmon will live harmoniously with free range chickens and gray wolves. He is maddening. The lowly zucchini became a political weapon at the dinner table because he didn't have a bone to chew on. Maddening I tell you! Maddening!
Kids would love making these - they are fun to make and fast if you use a mandolin. If you don't have a mandolin, just slice the zucchini as thinly as possible. I chose to stuff my zucchini rolls with carrots, daikon radish, cucumber, cilantro and mint...so dang good! But lest you think that's all there is to these, hold the toothpick...the zucchini strips are first coated with a delicious guacamole sauce...ZING! And now I expect you are sitting back in your chair saying, "Uh-Huh, that's what I'm talkin' bout!"
These make the perfect appetizers, too, but they were great for dinner! I would plan on about 4 or 5 per person if serving for dinner...maybe even 6 - the scale is not going to jump in the morning even if you have 7!
You can add whatever veggies you like - broccoli, green pepper, asparagus, jalapeno - just slice them all very thin and roll-'em-up!
Zucchini Roll-Ups - Pots and Pins
For the Guacamole Sauce:
2 avocados
juice from one lime
2 tablespoons green onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
For the Roll-Ups:
4 zucchini, peels left on, sliced very thinly, lengthwise (you can get about 6 strips from each one)
4 medium carrots, peeled, julienned into 1 1/2-inch strips (I used 12 baby carrots)
1 large daikon radish, peeled and julienned into 1 1/2-inch strips
1 large cucumber, peeled and julienned into 1 1/2-inch strips
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 bunch mint, finely chopped
24 toothpicks
To assemble: Coat one zucchini strip with about a teaspoon of guacamole. Layer on a few carrot, radish, and cucumber strips. Sprinkle with cilantro and mint. Roll up, keeping all of the veggies on the zucchini and secure with a toothpick. Makes 24.
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Happy Mother's Day! Mom, I wish I could be there - some of your home cookin' would surely cure what ails me! The mister told me last night he had something special planned for Mother's Day...good thing I didn't hold my breath because this morning he said, "So what should we do today?" Can you even imagine the shock it would have been to my system if he had something planned?!? I shall spend this Mother's Day like I do every Sunday...making him breakfast, refilling his drinks, making him lunch, listening to him read me the paper, cooking him meat and potatoes for dinner and if I'm really lucky, he'll go work in the yard and I'll get to watch a chick-flick on the tube. Livin' large...Livin' the dream...Livin' the Life of Riley...Livin' it up...Just like Bogie and Bacall!
