Thai Chicken Summer Rolls

These Thai chicken summer rolls are filled with peanut saucy noodles, Thai basil, carrot, cucumber, cilantro and, of course, chicken. With more peanut sauce on the side. 

Our host for today’s Sunday FunDay event asked us to make summer rolls so that’s what I’ve named these guys but, honestly, at our house, we usually call these spring rolls. But I guess that gets confusing with fried spring rolls aka eggrolls also being called the same thing. 

One of the very first recipes I ever shared back in my first year of blogging was a version of this made with shrimp and a Thai sweet and sour chili sauce. So good! They hit the spot when I was feeling very homesick for Kuala Lumpur after a move to Cairo.

If you cannot be bothered to make rolls, my shrimp spring roll bowls are the ticket. So easy. 

Thai Chicken Summer Rolls

For the peanut sauce, I like to use a mix of crunchy and smooth because it looks more like the satay sauce you find in Southeast Asia. If you only have one or the other, use what you have! Still gonna taste delicious. If you cannot find Thai basil, you can substitute regular basil but it won’t have the same almost licoricey/aniseed flavor. Or you can just add more cilantro or use mint leaves which are another herb typical in Thai cooking.

Ingredients

For summer rolls:

2 ½ oz or 71g bean thread noodles (2 nests or bundles)

5 1/3 oz or 150g cooked chicken


1 large carrot

1/2 seedless cucumber 

1 tablespoon fish sauce


1 tablespoon dark brown sugar


2 tablespoons rice vinegar


8 large rice paper wrappers aka spring roll skins

Small bunch cilantro


Small bunch Thai basil

Optional: 1 large jalapeño pepper

For the peanut sauce:

1 cup or 240ml peanut butter

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce


2 tablespoons rice vinegar


3 cloves garlic, grated


2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

Optional: minced red chili pepper

½ cup or 240ml boiling water

Method

First, make the peanut sauce so the ingredients have time to meld together. Whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, chili pepper, if using, and boiling water until smooth. 

Set aside.

Place the bean thread noodles in medium heatproof bowl, cover with almost boiling water; let stand about 5 minutes or until just tender, drain and rinse with cool water. Set aside to drain. 

Using kitchen scissors, cut the noodles into random lengths.

Julienne the carrot and cucumber. My cucumber said it was seedless but I still had to scrape the seeds out! I find a grapefruit spoon is the best tool for this.

Pinch off the tough stems from the cilantro and discard.

Pinch the leaves off of the Thai basil. Discard the stems. 

If using, cut the jalapeño in half and scrape the inside clean of seeds and membrane. Slice into thin slices. 




Slice the chicken into pieces. 

In a medium bowl, mix together the fish sauce, sugar and vinegar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add in the noodles and toss to coat. 

Add about ¼ of the peanut sauce.

Toss again. 

To assemble the rolls, place one rice paper wrapper in plate of warm water until just softened. 

Lift the wrapper carefully, letting the excess water drip off. I used my clean quartz countertop as the filling/rolling surface but you can use a clean flat plate, if you’d like. 

Place some of the filling horizontally in the center of the sheet closer to you starting with some Thai basil leaves and tender sprigs of cilantro. Top with some cucumber and carrot slices and a slice or two of jalapeño, if using. 

Top with 1/8 of the chicken. 

Finally, 1/8 of the noodles

Fold edge closest to you up and over the filling. Fold in the sides. 

Roll the sheet to enclose filling. The end will stick nicely as it rolls, securing your roll. 

Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

Place the filled rolls on a large plate where they won’t touch UNLESS you are serving them immediately, otherwise, they like to stick to each other. Again, if not serving immediately, cover with cling film or a damp cloth and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with warmed peanut sauce on the side. 

Enjoy!

 

It's Sunday FunDay and today, as mentioned above, we sharing recipes for summer rolls made with rice paper wrappers. Many thanks to our host, Renu of Cook with Renu. 

• Easy Fruit Summer Rolls with Feta and Mango Chili Sauce from Cook with Renu
• Low Carb Cheesy Rice Paper Chicken Wraps from Sneha's Recipe
• Thai Chicken Summer Rolls from Food Lust People Love
• Shrimp Rice Paper Rolls from Making Miracles
• Shrimp and Veggie Summer Rolls from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Vegan Summer Rolls from Mayuri's Jikoni

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Firecracker Tofu Broccolini Stir-Fry

This firecracker tofu broccolini stir-fry is spicy, savory and absolutely delicious. Eat it just as is, or serve over rice or noodles. 

First of all, let me say that I make this dish with tofu that I have frozen and then thawed and you should do the same. As it thaws, or maybe as it’s freezing actually, the tofu releases a lot of the liquid it contains. When you open the container, you can pour a lot of it off already. Then it’s simple to slice it thickly and squeeze even more out. 

Why are we trying to dry the tofu out? Because when you get rid of the excess liquid it makes browning the tofu much, much easier! And browning is all about adding texture and flavor. 

 

Firecracker Tofu Broccolini Stir Fry

The sambal is essential for spiciness to give the tofu its firecracker name. If you aren’t sure about how much spiciness you can manage, start with 2 tablespoons. We love it with four – or more! 

Ingredients

For the firecracker sauce:

¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar, tightly packed

2 tablespoons black vinegar (or substitute rice vinegar)

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2-4 tablespoons sambal oelek

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the dish:

10 oz or 283g baby broccoli aka broccolini

1 lb or 450g block extra firm tofu, frozen then thawed

2 tablespoon canola or another light oil

1 medium yellow onion

For garnish: 

Sesame seeds

Spring onion, sliced diagonally

Method

Grate the garlic and ginger into a mixing bowl. 

Add in the soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, sambal oelek, sesame oil, water and cornstarch. Whisk to combine then set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Trim the broccolini and cut the stem parts into bite sized pieces. Set the florets aside. 

Blanch the stems in the boiling water for 1-2 minutes, depending on whether they are thick or thin, then add in the florets. Blanch for another minute.

Transfer the broccolini into a colander and run cool water over it until it is cool also. Set aside. 

Squeeze the thawed tofu to remove as much excess liquid as you can then crumble it with the tines of a fork.

Peel and chop the onion finely. 

In a large nonstick skillet, fry the tofu crumbles in the canola oil until browned and a little crispy. Depending on how dry you managed to get your tofu, this could take a while but it’s worth the time for texture and flavor. 

Transfer the tofu to a bowl and then add the onion to the pan and cook until it softens and the edges start to brown, stirring often. 

Put the tofu back in and stir well to combine.

Pour in the firecracker sauce and stir to coat.

Cook for a several minutes, stirring often, to mellow the fresh garlic and ginger.

Add the blanched broccolini and toss gently to combine. Cook until heated through and tender enough for your liking. We like our broccolini still pretty crunchy.

Top with sesame seeds and spring onions to serve. As I mentioned in the introduction, this is lovely just as it is or you can serve it over rice or noodles. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes made with protein rich vegetarian ingredients like tofu, ricotta, cottage cheese and paneer. Many thanks to our host, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni. Check out the links below. 

• Corn Paneer Parathas from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Cottage Cheese Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cottage Cheese Wraps from Making Miracles
• Cheese Paneer Tikka Open Sandwich in Air Fryer from Cook with Renu
• Firecracker Tofu Broccolini Stir-Fry from Food Lust People Love
• Paneer Pakora from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Paneer Tomato Rice With Leftover Rice For One from Sneha's Recipe
• Pasta with Green Beans and Ricotta from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Potato, Cottage Cheese, & Caramelized Onion Pierogi from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Retro Cottage Cheese Jello Salad from A Messy Kitchen

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Firecracker Tofu Broccolini Stir-Fry!

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Creamy Thyme Butter Beans

Simple and classic, these creamy thyme butter beans aka lima beans are a family favorite, the perfect side dish for any meal. And they are so easy! 

First of all, I need to clarify what I mean by butter beans. Many in the world would call these green delights lima beans. In the southern United States or at the very least in Louisiana where I was born and many my forebears before me, they are called butter beans. 

It wasn’t until I was a full grown up that I found out that more the mature white butter beans existed. I’ll eat those too, if well cooked and soft but for my money, the tender green beans are the best. The older white ones can be quite starchy and dry but cream helps so they can also work in this recipe.

This simple recipe was my mom’s favorite way to eat butter beans. She waxed lyrical about my grandmother’s light hand with this dish. A generous pour of rich cream, a sprinkling of thyme, often dried thyme because that’s what Mo had on hand. I like to use fresh thyme, which Mom also appreciated and I was happy to cook this for her, whenever she asked.

Creamy Thyme Butter Beans

If you can find shelled fresh beans, by all means, use them. I made these with frozen beans but I've also used canned ones before, drained and rinsed. When fresh purple hull or zipper cream peas are in season, I’ve made this with them as well. 

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g frozen butter/lima beans

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste as desired

2/3 cup or 156ml heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme 

Several generous grinds black pepper

Pinch cayenne

Optional for garnish: more thyme

Method

Thaw and rinse the beans with warm water. Discard any loose pods or discolored beans. 

Put the beans just covered with water with the salt in a small pot.

Bring the water to a boil then simmer the beans until tender. This could take just 10 minutes with very fresh young beans, a little longer with older ones. The instructions on my bag of frozen baby limas said to bring to a boil then simmer for 20-25 minutes! Only you can judge if they are tender enough for you. I will say, try to choose the biggest ones to test.  

When they are tender, taste a bean and see if it has absorbed enough salt to your liking. If not, add another teaspoon of salt to the water, let stand for 10 minutes, and then drain in a colander.

Return the warm beans to the pot, over a very low heat then add in the cream and stir to coat. 

Stir in the thyme. Gently heat the cream till warm through but be careful not to not let it boil. 

Add in a few generous grinds of black pepper and a pinch of cayenne. 

Serve warm, garnished with more thyme, if desired. 

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, I grew up eating butter beans/lima beans and didn’t know they were almost universally reviled! Why do many people hate limas? Perhaps because they weren’t cooked well. Today my Sunday FunDay friends and I are trying to change that! We are celebrating Lima Bean Respect Day ahead of the official date on April 20th. All hail the might LIMA. 

Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below. 

• Butter Beans Curry, Maharashtrian Sprouted Usal by Cook with Renu
• Creamy Thyme Butter Beans by Food Lust People Love
• Greek Yogurt Soup With Zucchini, Lima Beans & Red Lentils by Sneha's Recipe
• Ham & Baby Lima Bean Soup by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Pizza Beans by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Southern Style Green Lima Beans by Making Miracles
• Summer Squash Succotash by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Vaal Nu Shaak by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Why All the Hate? Recipes to Convert Lima Bean Despisers by Culinary Cam

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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