Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs, Summer Rolls, and the Secret Recipe Club

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, where each member is assigned another participant’s blog, selects a recipe, makes it, then blogs about it, with all entries going up on the same day, I was assigned Jo-Anna’s A Pretty Life in the Suburbs. She is a stay-at-home-mom from the suburbs in Canada who not only cooks and bakes but also is quite crafty. Her blog is filled with gorgeous photos and great ideas. I especially liked her pretty jars. I never knew chalkboard paper existed, and I can envision lots of uses for such with my own organizing fetish. The SRC is an easy and fun way to meet fellow food bloggers and find wonderful recipes. Consider joining if you food blog!

It was still quite hot here in St. Louis when I got the assignment and was looking for something light. The Vietnamese Chicken Bites sounded delightful, and we love Asian. Other than cutting the recipe in half, I followed the recipe exactly. As we head into soup weather, I can see dropping these in a spicy Asian broth with lots of veggies. YUM.

I followed Jo-Anna’s recommendation and also made her mother’s summer rolls, but with quite a few changes. I used my standard peanut sauce, which I’ve made for years, originally from Cooking Light, and Udon noodles because that’s what we had. Unfortunately I was multi-tasking and over-soaked the rice papers, so pay attention. That, in addition to over-stuffing them, made the rolls nearly impossible to neatly assemble (and messy to eat), but they are very fresh tasting and delicious. You can include other vegetables as I did, such as green onions,red bell peppers, and cucumbers would also be a nice addition. The mint and cilantro are quite pronounced, which was fine with us. Definitely both recipes are repeaters. Thanks Jo-Anna for such an interesting blog and delish recipes!

Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs
2 lb ground chicken or turkey
1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro
4 green onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T grated lemon zest
4 t cornstarch
2 t minced gingerroot
6 T soy sauce (I used low sodium soy sauce)

Combine chicken, cilantro, onions, garlic, zest, cornstarch, gingerroot, and soy sauce. Roll into 1 inch meatballs.

Place on to a baking sheet, lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  Turn once.  

Summer Rolls

1 ounce Udon noodles

1 T seasoned rice vinegar

4 (8-inch) rice-paper rounds, plus additional in case some tear

2 large leaves of Romaine lettuce, ribs cut out and discarded and leaves julienned

1/4 C fresh mint leaves

1/4 C fresh basil leaves (preferably Thai)

1/2 C thinly sliced Napa cabbage or “regular” cabbage

1/4 C fresh cilantro leaves

1/3 C coarsely shredded carrot

1/3 C red bell pepper, julienned

1/3 C green onions, finely sliced

Pat noodles dry between paper towels and toss with vinegar and salt to taste.

Put a double thickness of paper towel on a work surface and fill a shallow baking pan with warm water. Soak 1 rice-paper round (make sure there are no holes) in warm water until pliable, 30 seconds to 1 minute, then transfer to paper towels.

Arrange lettuce on bottom half of soaked rice paper, folding or tearing to fit and leaving a 1-inch border along edge. Spread a bit of peanut sauce over the lettuce and top with mint, basil, vegetables, and noodles. Roll up rice paper tightly around the filling and then fold in sides and continue rolling. Transfer summer roll to a plate and cover with dampened paper towels.

Serve rolls halved on the diagonal.