Daring Cooks July – brought to you by California Walnuts

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I won’t lie – I was pretty disappointed to see the Daring Cooks’ challenge this month. Nut  butters. Really? I don’t personally find using a food processor that challenging and I am already familiar with using nut butters in both sweet and savoury dishes.  This challenge does, however, give me the perfect opportunity to introduce you all to my second sponsor for The International Food Blogger Conference this August in Seattle – yes folks, after The National Watermelon Promotion Board, I am ecstatic to announce that California Walnuts is also one of my part-sponsors.

Since I already wrote abut the health and nutrition benefits of walnuts in this post, I’ll cut to the chase, shall I?

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe.

As I scratched my head to come up with a recipe using nut butters, I happened to look in the fridge to see a pile of spinach, some garlic scapes and a hunk of parmesan going to waste.  So, whilst it’s not a “butter” of sorts, I made this spinach and scape  walnut pesto. No recipe – just handfuls of spinach, about a cup of walnuts, 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped, some olive oil and grated parmesan.

A gorgeous, light summer pasta sauce:

Still wondering what sort of “nut butter” recipe I could come up with, I perused the recipe section of the California Walnuts website, and was thrilled to find a recipe for Thai Salad Rolls using walnut paste. Good enough!!  It was a perfect make your won light meal for a hot summer’s night:

Since I could not find rice paper rolls at such short notice (nothing like leaving it til the last minute!!), I used romaine lettuce leaves to wrap the fillings in. Other substitutions and changes marked below in red.

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Thai Salad Rolls

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1/4 cup mango chutney
4 tbsp sweet chili sauce, divided
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 cup toasted and finely chopped California walnuts
1 cup rice noodles (I omitted these)
8 rice paper wraps (I used romaine lettuce leaves)
1 cup bean sprouts, divided
1 cup shredded carrot, divided
1 cup sugar snap peas, sliced lengthwise, divided
8 cilantro sprigs
16 mint leaves

Method

Toasting Walnuts:

In large, dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast walnuts, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown, about 1 to 2 minutes; set aside.

Walnut/Onion Paste:

In a large heavy-bottomed pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add chutney, 1 tbsp (15 mL) chili sauce and fish sauce and cook another 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add walnuts; set aside. (I added walnuts to the onion mixture and combined it all in the food processor to make a thicker paste).

In a small sauce pan, bring 3 cups (750 mL) water to a boil and cook rice noodles for 5 to 7 minutes or until al dente. Rinse noodles with cold water and drain. Transfer to a bowl and add remaining chili sauce, stirring to coat noodles. (I omitted the noodles)

To Assemble the Rolls:

Fill a medium mixing bowl with 3 to 4 cups (750 mL to 1 L) hot water. Submerge one sheet of rice paper in hot water until it has softened, about 15 to 30 seconds. Remove and place on a cutting board lined with kitchen towel or damp paper towel. Stretch out rice paper so that there are no folds. Place 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the noodles in the centre of rice paper and stretch out to form a small rectangle. Top with 2 tbsp (30 mL) of walnut/onion paste and 1 tbsp (15 mL) each of bean sprouts, carrots, snap peas, 1 cilantro sprig and 2 mint leaves. Fold bottom end of wrap over the filling and tuck to form a compact log. Fold the ends in and continue to roll into a tight cylinder. Arrange seam side down on platter. Repeat steps to make 8 rolls.

(Or, you could haphazardly make litte bundles of goodness inside the lettuce leaf “wraps” like I did!)

Serve immediately.

Tip: For a heartier roll, add cooked shrimp, shredded chicken or pork. (I sautéed a few shrimp in chili oil)

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Result? A surprising combination of spicy and sweet (from the chutney and the walnuts) – I am looking forward to using the leftover sauce/ paste in a simple noodle dish!

Thank you California Walnuts for the lovely bag I am currently working my way through – there is surely a lot more walnut deliciousness in my future. And I can’t wait to attend IFBC with your generous support 🙂

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61 thoughts on “Daring Cooks July – brought to you by California Walnuts”

  1. Pingback: Tweets that mention Daring Cooks July – brought to you by California Walnuts -- Topsy.com
  2. good idea! I use different type of nuts besides pine nuts for pesto as well…. and great for pasta! 😉 Like you said we should be living in the same city

    and nice one on the sponsor!

    Reply
  3. Well, I’m glad you persevered and made the dish despite your nut butter reservations; sounds nuttalicious!

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  4. I find it so amusing that you say that you weren’t all that inspired by the challenge because look at what you created as a result! I’d say that you came up with some great dishes (that pesto sounds fantastic!), and it’s a bonus that it tied right in with a sponsor! I wish all of my non-inspired dishes came out so beautifully and delicious. 🙂

    Reply
  5. As simple as some of the DC challenges are, I do find that they can inspire some creative thinking on our part… looks like the same is true for you!

    Walnuts are so delicious… I love what you’ve done with yours.

    Reply
  6. Congratulations on your new sponsor! And thanks for these Thai Salad Rolls with walnut paste. After my bout w/pine nut mouth and my ongoing peanut probs, it’s good to have tasty alternatives to pestos and nut butters! 😎

    Reply
  7. So you were not inspired well I beg to point out the bleeding obvious your recipes are stunning I love the pesto but the Thai salad rolls are divine superb effort and gorgeous photos very professional looking. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

    Reply
  8. Great great recipe. I love thai egg rolls. It is great that you used romain lettuce instead of of the spring roll wrapper. I can’t wait to try this.

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  9. Congrats on your two sponsors and finding the inspiration to create the walnut/onion pesto – and I think lettuce wraps are better than spring rolls because of the crunch!

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  10. That pesto looks and sounds delicious! I am sorry that you weren’t as wowed by this challenge, but I am really amazed at how well you were able to work with it and make some things that worked so well for you and your sponsor!!

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  11. Walnut pesto is fantastic but I’ve honestly never thought to use it in a sammie – brilliant! And congrats on another sponsor – wish I were going to IFBC but alas, airfares just aren’t kind to us mid-westerners!

    Reply
  12. I know, whipping something up to puree isn’t a challenge. But I didn’t complain. It gave me a good excuse to make a dish we love to have and hadn’t had in a while.

    I like the idea of the wraps! nicely done…

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  13. My goodness! Never thought of walnut PASTE before, but that makes such great flavoring sense.

    I wish I could be there in Seattle to cheer you on! In spirit though…I lived in Seattle before moving over here to Germany and LOVED the access of farm to table edibles.

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  14. I don’t do Daring Cooks so hadn’t heard about this but agree it sounds a bit of a non challenge – on the other hand, certainly with Daring Bakers I’m glad of the odd month where it’s slightly easier!

    Looks like you did the challenge justice and that pesto looks fab.

    Reply
  15. Mardi these salad rolls look out of this world!!! And the pesto looks amazing — i love your use of nuts 🙂 Anyways looked like you had a fabulous time in Philly and that shot of the pasta just made me drool onto my keyboard…drats!

    Reply
  16. Congrats on the sponsorship ! Yes not the most interesting challenge, but your dish looks amazing !!! I personally prefer fruit butters but that’s something I enjoy in the fall months 🙂

    Reply
  17. I like the wide variety of recipes that you used those California walnuts in. The Thai spring rolls sound really good right now in the sweltering heat.

    Reply

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