Spring Roll Bowls from Pinch of Yum

Tried this recipe tonight, from Pinch of Yum, which is basically my second-favourite recipe website after Skinnytaste.

I modified enough of what went into it that I need to write it down before I forget, because it was amazing and I wanted to eat all of it!

Follow the PoY recipe as directed. The sauce is intimidating with the amount of fish sauce that goes into it, but go with it. She's got the right combination. The only different thing I did was that I added a pinch (literally a pinch) of kosher salt to help round it out.

For add-ins, we went with snap peas, green onions, roasted peanuts, and avocado. I wouldn't do avocado again. It wasn't bad, it just seemed weird. Next time, I would absolutely add some bean sprouts, and some matchstick carrots. My partner and the kids had fresh cilantro, but I didn't because it's the devil's lettuce.

My partner and the kids had marinated chicken breast in theirs, and I had marinated tofu in mine. The marinades were quite different, again because of the devil's lettuce.

The cilantro-lime marinade for the chicken was approximately as follows:

For three boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1-2 inch cubes:
1/4 cup lime juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh minced cilantro
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Combine all ingredients and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

The sweet and spicy marinade for the tofu was:

For one piece of super-firm tofu, diced into approximately 1-2cm cubes (the packages come with two, and this would probably be plenty for both):
1/3 cup hoisin
1/4 cup sambal oelek (sriracha would probably work fine too, but maybe a little less)
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients and marinate for one hour.

The sambal made it a little spicy. Not seriously so, but just a little slow, building warmth that never got to be too much for me. The seven year old mentioned it and said she didn't want more, but the nine year old liked the amount of heat. If you want more heat, add some sriracha, or even some red pepper flakes for straight up heat without changing the flavour. If you want to pull back some, reduce your amount of sambal.

In either protein's case, pan-fry them in a little oil. The chicken didn't brown properly, so I took it out before it overcooked and got not complaints. The tofu absolutely needed that browning, but thanks to the hoisin, that wasn't a problem.

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