Tag Archives: nutrition

Creamy Polenta with Thyme and Parmesan

I love anything made with corn meal and creamy polenta is one of my favorites.

Like mashed potatoes and gravy, polenta is truly a comfort food (and perhaps a bit healthier.)

Just look at this creaminess dish of love.

Being married to an Italian, I do like to experiment with traditional Italian dishes.  Polenta is an Italian word for hulled or crushed grain. Polenta is an Italian dish served alone, or with a variety of toppings.  I like it simply as a side dish or sometimes, formed into squares and grilled topped with a thinly sliced tomato, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil.

Although Russ is more of a pasta kinda of guy, he is always willing to try anything I cook.

So tonight, along side some sautéed veggies, and grilled shrimp, we enjoyed a big ladle of creamy polenta infused with some garlic, thyme and parmesan.  (Don’t worry FODMAP followers you can infuse your oil with garlic and remove prior to eating and still enjoy this yummy recipe!)

Here’s our shrimp ready to eat! I marinated it first with a bit of soy sauce, oil and vinegar–and of course my fresh thyme. I grilled the shrimp in a vegetable basket made for the grill and the shrimp stayed so moist and delicious.To make the polenta,  I started with a bit of oil and garlic in a medium size pan over medium heat.

Then I reduced the heat and carefully added 3 cups of water and 1 cup of corn grits.The key is to stir frequently while cooking.  But, I had to run out and pick up Brennan from soccer so after it cooked up for about 5 minutes, I turned off the heat and put a cover over it.

When I came home about 20 minutes later, the polenta was perfectly done.

You really can’t mess up polenta, it’s an easy dish to make.

To season it up, I added about 1 TB butter and some sea salt & pepper.

And of course, I added some shredded parmesan cheese but grated parmesan works too.

This stuff was so yum.

And for all you FODMAP peeps, polenta is on your low FODMAP list–straight from Australia.

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Creamy Polenta with Thyme and Parmesan (low FODMAP)

Ingredients

  • 2 TB olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, sliced into 3 pieces
  • 1 cup corn grits/polenta (I used Bob's Red Mill Corn Grits)
  • 3 cups water
  • 1-2 pieces of thyme stems
  • 1 TB butter
  • 1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese ( I used shaved Parmesan)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Saute garlic in olive oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. (FODMAPs peeps remove garlic pieces)
  2. Reduce heat, and carefully add water and polenta to pan.
  3. Stir while cooking on low-medium heat.
  4. Add in thyme stems and place cover on pan. Stir occasionally, cooking for about 20 minutes or until creamy consistency.
  5. Add butter and Parmesan cheese and gently stir to incorporate.
  6. Remove thyme stems.
  7. Season with salt and pepper.
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In New England, there is a bit of crispness in the air and the Fall weather is working its way in…just the perfect weather for warm and creamy polenta.  mmm…mmm!

Enjoy!

Mediterranean Salad with Feta

I whipped up a pasta salad for a family picnic this past weekend but while I was chopping and dicing the vegetables to mix in with the pasta, I realized that I really liked the vegetable mixture all on it’s own.  A nice refreshing blend of summer veggies with a lemon dill dressing and topped with savory feta….and thought this would make a great recipe to share with you.

This Mediterranean Salad can be eaten as is, topped on grilled fish or chicken or tossed into your favorite pasta or rice to make a delicious summer salad.  Whatever way you choose, this mixture is quite dee—lish. The stars of this simple chopped salad are grape tomatoes, a yellow pepper and parsley.

Start with some chopped fresh curly parsley.

Dice up a nice bright yellow bell pepper.

Toss in a farmstand-fresh cucumber if you have it.  Today I grabbed one at the market but went organic.

Add the diced cucumber to the chopped salad ingredients.

Create a simple dressing of freshly juiced lemon, olive oil and some salt and pepper.  Mix it up with some feta, if desired.  I always desire feta.

Garnish with a bit of fresh or dried dill.

What more would you want?  Well, perhaps some toasted walnuts or pine nuts would make it a bit more interesting….and I do like to add some kalamata olives too. 

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Mediterranean Salad with Feta (FODMAP friendly)

Ingredients

  • 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, cut tomatoes in half
  • 1 yellow pepper, trimmed, de-seeded and diced
  • 1 cup curly parsley, washed and diced
  • 1/2 cucumber, diced
  • 1 large lemon juiced (about 1/4 cup juice)
  • 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper, to season
  • 1/3 cup feta cheese
  • optional add ins: 1/4 cup toasted walnuts or pine nuts to garnish top of salad (YUM!) and/or 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives chopped and/or 1 TB chopped chives

Instructions

  1. Mix veggies and drizzle with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper mixing to infuse dressing.
  2. Sprinkle with dill and feta.
  3. If, desired, add 1/4 cup toasted walnuts or pine nuts, kalamata olives and chives on top as garnish.
  4. Serve as side salad, as salsa to grilled fish or chicken, or toss with your favorite rice or pasta to create a flavorful summer salad. (FODMAP followers use gluten free pasta)
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Hope your week is going GREAT!

Homemade Trail Mix

Hope you enjoyed the weekend!  We visited with our extended family in New Hampshire and enjoyed a little lake time.  I love watching the kids hanging out together…even though they don’t see each other that often, they re-connect like no time has been lost.

We finished our evening with a campfire…we experimented with a few different marshmallows…toasted coconut was the group favorite. It’s the little things in life, right?

Gearing up for the week, I mixed up a little trail mix that I can grab and go on the run.

Let’s face it, we our a generation on the move.

Personally, I like to pack a few snacks with me at all times…I hate being hungry ( perhaps I get a little cranky :) ) and I don’t typically like the options available at convenience stores, the airport etc. and I’m really kind of a picky eater.

So I whipped together this quick ‘trail mix’ that I can bring with me to my office and when I am on the go.

YOU can definitively get creative with this recipe and create a mixture of  goodies.

I made my trail mix with banana chips, pretzels, pumpkin seeds and a smattering of dark chocolate chips.

Storing the mixture in a mason jar will keep it fresh for the week.  This makes a great little mixture to pack in your kid’s brown bag lunch too!

I hope you enjoy the week ahead! And here’s a thought about joy and happiness for the start of the week…

Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.
~Eleanor Roosevelt

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Homemade trail mix (FODMAP friendly)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup pretzel sticks (FODMAP followers use Glutino or Snyders gluten free pretzels)
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (Chocolate remains untested for FODMAPs so try small amounts to assess tolerance)
  • 1/2 cup banana chips

Instructions

  1. Mix and store in mason jar and enjoy as desired.
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Asian Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

Hope you are having a GREAT week. I have been feeling a bit beat, on antibiotics (ugh!), but trying to keep it all in perspective and get over my BIG self!  I have been doing lots of cooking this week which always makes me happy.

I love Asian inspired recipes so this recipe is a staple in my house.  It’s quick, easy and kid and dietitian approved.


Soy sauce takes no time at all to infuse its savory flavor into meat, tofu, veggies or whatever you choose to season with it…so it’s a great last minute marinade to whip up.  I love that you can get ginger minced up and ready to roll in recipes.

Love this mixture of sesame seeds, the black seeds add some color and dimension to this recipe.

Simply mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and some sesame seeds and you are good to go.  If you need a bit of spice use some cayenne pepper (a small sprinkle) and/or some garlic. (FODMAP followers use a bit of garlic infused oil.)  Here it is marinating…

I like to cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and stir fry up!

Then sauté some seasonal veggies and toss in a bag of  brown rice (I use the Trader Joe’s microwave brown rice–ready in 3 1/2 minutes!)-  for a quick fix dinner.

Today’s farmer’s market finds…Swiss chard, mini eggplant combined with some store bought summer squash…so yum!

And yes, my kids liked it.

And I entered this recipe on Mr. Food Test Kitchen with a chance to be on TV! Check out contest here!

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Asian Sesame Chicken Stir Fry (FODMAP friendly)

Ingredients

  • 3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
  • 2 TB soy sauce ( I use San-J Tamari, reduced sodium)
  • 1 TB sesame oil
  • 1 TB minced ginger
  • 1 TB sesame seeds (I use a mixture of traditional with black seeds too)
  • 2-3 cups of veggies of your choice (I used Swiss chard, summer squash and mini eggplant)
  • 1 TB olive oil.

Instructions

  1. In medium size glass bowl, mix soy sauce, sesame oil, minced ginger, sesame oil.
  2. Add chicken to marinade and refrigerate until ready to cook 15 minutes or up to an hour and be sure to turn chicken over to ensure even coverage of marinade.
  3. Add chicken to non stick skillet and cook over medium heat until chicken is browned and cooked through. Remove chicken to plate.
  4. In same skillet, add 1 TB oil and sauté vegetables until al dente.
  5. Add back chicken while microwaving brown rice.
  6. Toss rice into skillet and add a dash of soy sauce. Stir to blend. EAT!
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Whole Fruit Popsicles

I hope all my US friends enjoyed America’s birthday!  We had a blast!  The Scarlata clan headed into Boston to check out the Tall Ships and enjoy all of the festivities on July 3rd and then spent an overnight to enjoy even more of the city the next day.

What a great family day and most events were free of charge!  Here is one of the beautiful ships’ masts and sails.

The Blue Angels flew over a few times.  I just love this kind of stuff…so cool.

They also did a special maneuver and all departed in different directions….all directly over our heads. Nice!

It was also a beautiful moon lit night over Boston harbor.  This picture was taken right next to the location where all the tea was dumped in the Boston harbor many years ago by the Boston Tea party.

On July 4th the USS Constitution did a turn around in the harbor. This wooden hulled, three masted frigate of the US Navy is the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat.  Seeing this old warship in the harbor on July 4th was a very special site.  

So in honor of the United States birthday, I made red, white and blue rocket pops! Really they are more purple, off white and reddish pink BUT the thought was there!

Enjoy!

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Whole Fruit Popsicles (low FODMAP)

Ingredients

  • 6 rocket pop molds
  • 3/4 cup strawberries
  • 1 TB limeade (Newman's) or water
  • 1 Banana
  • 1 TB milk or coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup blueberries
  • 1 TB Greek yogurt

Instructions

  1. Add strawberries and limeade or water to blender. Blend until smooth about 1 minute. Pour on bottom of rocket pop molds.
  2. Place pops in freezer for 30 minutes to set.
  3. Add banana and milk to clean blender and blend for about 1 minute.
  4. Remove pops from freezer and put banana over strawberry mixture.
  5. Place pops in freezer for another 30 minutes to set.
  6. Add blueberries and 1 TB Greek yogurt to clean blender. Blend until smooth, at least 1 minute.
  7. Remove pops from freezer and top with blueberry mixture. Return to freezer and let freeze for 2 hours until fully set. Enjoy. Get creative and mix up other fruity treats!
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Cinnamon Raisin Farmer Cheese

Back in my college days at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, I used to visit a great farmer’s market that had yummy farmer cheese.  It was slightly sweet with a hint of cinnamon and raisins.  Recently shopping at the grocery store I stumbled upon plain farmer cheese and thought I would have to re-create this delicious cheese spread!

Farmer cheese is an unripened cheese that is made using rennet and a bacterial starter to coagulate milk creating the cheese.  The curds separate from the whey and the whey is drained off along with most of the lactose. Farmer cheese can be made from cow, goat or sheep milk.

To create my recipe today, I used Friendship farmer cheese which is carbohydrate free with just a trace of lactose.  (Yes, making it very FODMAPs-friendly!) The plain farmer cheese provides 4 grams of protein and just 2.5 grams of fat and only 40 calories for 2 TB.

This tasty cheese spread is great on toasted bagels (of course GF and FODMAPs friendly if you are following the low FODMAP diet), rice cakes, or even as a dip for carrots sticks. 

All you need is some raisins, cinnamon, maple syrup and the farmer cheese and you are all set to make this yummy recipe!

Hope you give Farmer cheese a try!  Here’s the recipe.

 

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Cinnamon Raisin Farmer Cheese (low FODMAP)

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. farmer cheese
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 TB maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins

Instructions

  1. Stir ingredients together and refrigerate.
  2. Spread about 2 TB on your favorite cracker, bread or use as dip for baby carrots.
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Quinoa, Raisin and Sunflower Seed Granola Bars

I have been playing around a bit with quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) in the kitchen.

It’s such an interesting grain that has ancient origins dating back to the Inca civilization.

My latest craze has been Ancient Harvest’s Inca Red.

This red quinoa seems to keep it’s texture a bit better than other quinoa I have cooked with and it is pre-washed so less time prepping in the kitchen.

Today, I prepared enough quinoa to make my Tomato Lime Quinoa Salad and enough to attempt to make some granola bars featuring quinoa, to up the protein and fiber content.  I have to admit, this is not my first try at making a quinoa based granola bar.  My first attempt was kinda dry and somewhat tasteless….so I had to toss the whole batch. Boo :(

I changed up the recipe this time and I think it came out mighty fine.

I LOVE the taste of coconut so I used unsweetened grated coconut and some coconut oil to add some serious coconut flavor, but you can use butter if you’d rather. I think regular vegetable oil may make them too crumbly but you certainly could try to substitute it in the recipe.

I added some golden raisin, sunflower seeds too and the mixture looked so yummy {and tasted delicious too!}

These bars are easy to make, just add all the ingredient and mix to blend, then press firmly into a square 8 x 8 pan and bake them up.

Here they are all set to be baked!

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Quinoa,Raisin and Sunflower Seed Granola Bars (FODMAP friendly)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa (I like Ancient Harvest Inca Red Quinoa)
  • 2 TB oatbran
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 3 TB butter (I like 2 TB coconut oil and 1 TB butter)
  • 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1 tsp. vanilla (I usually use a bit more maybe 1 1/2 tsp.)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. In medium size mixing bowl, add all ingredients and gently stir to blend.
  3. Press into an 8 x 8 greased square baking pan, press firmly!
  4. Bake for 30 minutes.
  5. Let granola bars cool to room temperature and then in the refrigerator to cool completely before cutting. I store them in individual wax paper bags.
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I hope you try these granola bars.  Homemade granola bars made with whole foods, foods as close to they exist in nature unlike soybean isolates, chicory root extract, and all sorts of ‘what the heck is that?’ ingredients often found in commercial varieties.  And you can wrap them up in individual wax paper bags and make them look cute too! :)

Enjoy!

 

 

Cheesy Turkey Tostada Pizzas

When I was creating recipes for my book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well with IBS I had to think quick on my feet and come up with some recipes I had never tried.  I had to fill half a book (thirteen chapters) with my own concoctions and had a tight time limit!

I found tostada shells at the grocery store and thought they would make a nice Mexican style pizza so brought them home!

 In my book, I created a recipe using extra lean beef and Mexican spices, added some diced tomatoes…I used Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted

and a bit of grated sharp cheddar.

The tostada pizzas turned out to be a hit with all of us so I thought I would share my recipe with you!

Tonight when I made them, I opted to use ground turkey.  I personally like ground chicken or turkey better than beef  (I was one of the few American kids that hated McDonalds burgers!) thankfully  (Ha!)…but use whatever lean meat suits you.  I love adding some thinly sliced scallions to my recipes for just a hint of onion flavor.

These little pizzas are yum!

You can add a slice or two of avocado or guacamole if you’d like.  I love a little avocado!  (FODMAP followers avocado should be limited to just a few slices and/or make your own guacamole without garlic.)

 

 

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Cheesy Turkey Tostada Pizzas (low FODMAP)

Ingredients

  • 1 lb lean ground meat (chicken breast, turkey, beef etc)
  • 2 tsp ground chili powder (NOTE: many brands have garlic so choose a variety that does not!) Mexgrocer.com has some garlic free varieties available online such as California chili powder by El Sol de Mexico
  • 1 tsp ground cumin, or more to taste
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes or fresh chopped (I like the Muir Glen Fire Roasted)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 10 tostado shells
  • 1 cup grated sharp or low-fat cheddar cheese
  • 2 scallions, finely chopped (FODMAP followers use green part only)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In large skillet over medium heat, add meat. (May need to add a TB oil if meat is particularly lean)
  3. Cook meat, crumbling and stirring for about 8-10 minutes.
  4. Add chili powder, cumin, and tomatoes to the skillet. Reduce heat and cook for another 5 minutes or until meat is thoroughly cooked. Season with a bit of salt and pepper if desired.
  5. On a large cookie sheet, spread out tostada shells (some may overlap a small amount). Divide meat mixture evenly among tostadas.
  6. Sprinkle cheddar evenly over meat. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle with scallions, if desired.
  8. Serve with a side salad and a 1-2 slices of avocado.
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Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Salad with Grapes

Every summer we try to visit Saratoga Springs, NY and connect with our dear friends, Neil and Dianna.  Dianna and I go way back to our dietetic internship days at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

One visit Dianna packed a picnic lunch with chicken salad sandwiches that were outrageously good.  I remember she started with a grilled teriyaki chicken breast and added some grapes [YUM] so I decided to re-create the recipe today.

First I whipped up a homemade teriyaki sauce.  I decided to add some fresh pineapple to my sauce.

In my Ninja-blender that Russ purchased for me :) , I whirled a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil, minced ginger and brown sugar.  Then I cut some chicken breasts in half to make them thinner for quicker cooking and covered them with my homemade teriyaki sauce.  I allowed the chicken to marinate in the fridge while I headed to visit with a few clients in my nutrition consultation practice. [Yes, I was whirling marinade at 7 AM in the morning!]

When I returned home, I was so happy to find Chelsea and Russ grilling up the chicken.

I purposely marinated extra chicken so that we could use half for our evening dinner, and use the extra to make chicken salad. Tonight we ate the chicken with a side of my Tomato Lime Quinoa recipe!  Deelish.

After dinner, I diced up the extra chicken to make the chicken salad.  I like the sweet and salty combo of teriyaki, grapes and a scallions.

What a delicious way to use extra chicken.  Mmmmmm…..

I added green grapes because that is what we had in our crisper, but red grapes add nice color too!

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Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Salad with Grapes (FODMAPs friendly)

Ingredients

  • 2 full chicken breasts, cut in half to create thinner cutlets
  • 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 TB minced ginger
  • 1 TB sesame oil
  • 1 TB brown sugar
  • 15-20 grapes, cut in 1/4's
  • 2 scallions (FODMAP followers use green part only)
  • 2 TB Mayonnaise (I use Hellmann's light)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Place chicken in medium size glass or ceramic casserole dish or bowl.
  2. Blend soy sauce, pineapple, ginger, sesame oil and brown sugar in blender.
  3. Add water to mixture and drizzle over chicken, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight or for several hours to marinate.
  4. Prepare grill when chicken is fully marinated, and grill until thoroughly cooked.
  5. Set chicken in refrigerator to cool down a bit for about 5-10 minutes, then slice into bite size chunks. In bowl place chicken, grapes, scallions and mayonnaise and blend.
  6. Season to desired taste.
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Cooking School

This past week, I joined my sister Dee in Miami!

Dee was the recipient of the President’s Award from her employer which included an all expense paid trip to Florida.  This was a very prestigious award and the company provided 4 days of the royal treatment.  The best part… I was invited as Dee’s guest!  Yes, I am one lucky sister!

We had the luxury to select two excursions as part of our experience in Miami.  My top choice was to enroll in a culinary class at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, a beautiful and historic landmark in Southern Florida.  The cooking class was a kick and exceeded my expectations.  I love cooking and hoped to learn a new trick or two.  Our fabulous teacher and chef was Jeannette Stefan-Ozga… here she is with my sister Dee!

There were about 15 of us present for the class and we were divided into 4 groups: Team Spring Roll, Team Crab Cake, Team Asparagus and Team Tuna.  I really wanted to be on Team Spring Roll as I had never cooked anything using spring roll wrappers.  Plus, I was intrigued by the recipe! 

Here I am with my teammates.  Team Spring Roll rocks!  We worked very well together and made a mean spring roll. Check these beauties out….

For those of you on a gluten free diet or low FODMAP diet, these rice spring roll wrappers are a wonderful way to enjoy an Asian style spring roll without wheat.

Team Crab Cake made an amazing crab cake, which was crispy on the outside and light, fluffy and flavor-infused on the inside.  To create this great texture, the crab cake mixture was dipped in flour, egg and finally the breadcrumb mixture and then cooked up in a skillet with oil. [Unfortunately not FODMAP friendly :( ]

Dee was on Team Asparagus, here they are… They sure like they are having fun, right? 

Team Asparagus made a delightful phyllo dough asparagus dish with parmesan and prosciutto.  Here the rolled asparagus awaits their trip to the oven.

My sister Dee and her teammates did a wonderful job plating their phyllo dough rolled asparagus…beautiful, right?

One of the little tricks we learned in class was how to curl up sliced scallions and turn them into little curly-Q’s.… cut scallions in small strips and drop into ice water.  The small green threads curl right up.  Adding the curly-Q’s onto your plate for decoration looks very cute!

Here is our  GREAT group…we had so much fun! 

NOW that I am back home with my family (Yay, I missed everyone!) and I now know how to use rice spring roll wrappers, I thought I would create a heartier spring roll.  My daughter Chelsea was home thankfully so she gave me a hand with this project.

First we used this little gadget to julienne cut the veggies, this is simply called a  julienne peeler. I learned how to properly use one of these gadgets at my cooking class!

I cut up some carrots, cucumber and summer squash.  To infuse color into the spring roll, use primary the julienned skin of the summer squash and cucumber rather than the mushy white center. [I learned this trick at my cooking class too!]

Then I briefly marinated some chicken breast and cooked it up with some Asian seasonings and sesame seeds.  Whipped up some rice stick noodles and then hydrated the spring roll skin in hot water which just takes a minute. Here Chelsea is about ready to roll the cooked chicken, noodles and veggies…

How deelish does this spring roll look?….YUM!

Here’s my recipe!

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Asian Salad and Sesame Chicken Spring Roll [FODMAP-friendly]

Ingredients

  • 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced in 10 even strips
  • 2 TB and 1 tsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tsp. sesame oil
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
  • 1-2 tsp sesame seeds (I used a mix of black and white)
  • 1 TB peanut oil
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and ends trimmed
  • 1/2 English cucumber, end trimmed
  • 1 medium yellow summer squash
  • 3 TB fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 3 oz rice sticks (about 1/3 of 8 oz container) [I used kitchen scissors to cut out portion of noodles I needed and reserved the rest for another recipe.]
  • 10 spring roll wrappers

Instructions

  1. Marinate chicken by placing strips in small glass bowl and drizzle with 1 TB reduced sodium soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp ginger and sesame seeds. Set aside to marinate for about 15 minutes.
  2. Julienne carrots, cucumber and summer squash keeping each vegetable separate-slicing primarily outer skin, not mushy center using julienne peeler.
  3. Add peanut oil to medium skillet over medium heat. Lift chicken out of marinade with fork to allow marinade to fall back into bowl. Add chicken carefully to skillet. Cook until chicken is cooked through about 6-8 minutes. Set aside.
  4. Make dressing for carrots by mixing 2 TB cilantro, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine vinegar and 1/2 tsp sesame oil. Drizzle over julienned carrots in small bowl.
  5. In large saucepan, boil water in preparation for rice sticks. Cook according to package directions.
  6. Drizzle 2 tsp. sesame oil over noodles and set aside.
  7. Hydrate spring roll wrappers by adding individually to large bowl filled with very warm-hot water. Remove from water when fully pliable and place on plastic cutting board.
  8. Place chicken, noodles and veggies near edge of wrapper and roll up burrito-style.
  9. Create light dipping sauce with remaining 1 TB soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp rice wine vinegar and sprinkling of cilantro to taste.
  10. Cut spring rolls on diagonal and enjoy.
  11. (Recipe based on the Biltmore's Vietnamese Summer Roll recipe)
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