Eli showing us how it’s done at the Coop Cooking class

I was inspired to make this spring roll salad after taking a cooking class at my local food Coop. The class was so fun and the instructor was terrific. I highly recommend taking a class there if you haven’t done so already. Above is a photo of our instructor, Eli Sunrise Morse, in his element, teaching our class. For more information on the cooking classes, click here.

After this class I thought I’d start my spring posts with this light and refreshing Spring Roll Salad. This noodle salad can be served as a main meal or a side dish, either cold or at room temperature (very versatile!). It has all the ingredients of a spring roll but you use rice noodles instead of rice papers, and you eat it with a fork or chopsticks (depending on your chop stick prowess). The great thing about a spring roll salad is that you won’t need to worry about dipping the spring roll in the sauce and losing all the ingredients into the sauce bowl (don’t you hate when the contents of the spring roll end up in the sauce and then you have to fish them out).

This spring roll salad is fully loaded with roasted shallots, roasted shiitake mushrooms, peanut sauce, and a tamarind dipping sauce. If you are short on time, I’d skip this recipe and go right to one of our other salads such as the jicama slaw or the edamame citrus salad. However, if you have time, it will be time well spent. The shiitake mushrooms are the real clincher to this whole deal. They taste like bacon and even non-mushroom lovers were scarfing them down.

Ingredients

1 lb fresh shiitake mushrooms
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp shoyu
12 oz fettuccine style rice noodles
3 carrots, sliced into matchsticks
3 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
Roasted shallot peanut sauce (recipe follows)
Tamarind dipping sauce (recipe follows)
1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts, chopped, for garnish

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut stems of shiitake mushrooms and discard or save for another use (stock). Thinly slice the mushroom caps for a total of 5 cups sliced. Toss shiitakes in a bowl with olive oil and shoyu. Spread mushrooms on baking sheet and place in oven. Roast, stirring twice, until mushrooms are bacon-like (what is bacon-like…. believe me, you will know it when you see it and taste it!). Place mushrooms in a small bowl and set aside.

Bring pot of water to rolling boil. Cook rice noodles according to package (I waited until sauces were done to cook the noodles because you are going to want to toss the sauces on immediate to make sure the noodles don’t stick).

Ingredients Roasted Shallot Peanut Sauce

3 medium shallots
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 Tbsp shoyu
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place shallots on parchment covered baking sheet and roast until they are very tender and juices have started to ooze out, about 30-35 minutes. Let shallots cool and then squeeze pulp out of skins. Place shallot pulp and all other ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. The sauce will keep, covered and refrigerated for up to one week. Warm before serving.

Ingredients Tamarind Dipping Sauce

2 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 Tbsp shoyu
1 tsp fresh chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp slivered seeded serrano chili or Thai Bird chili
(*note I used jalapeno because that is what I had on hand)

Method

Combine sugar and water in small sauce pan and warm over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from pan and mix in lime juice, tamarind, shoyu. Stir until smooth. Let mixture cool slightly then add cilantro, garlic, and chili. This sauce will also keep covered and refrigerated for up to one week.

Final Prep

Toss noodles, carrots, and herbs. Then add both sauces and mix until well blended. Sprinkle with bacon, I mean mushrooms, and peanuts to top it off.

So darn good….