Thai Style Chicken Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce – $.70

I’ve been noticing a boring trend in my recipes I’m posting- some kind of meat with sauce over starch. Booooring. That’s largely due to the fact that I’m still unemployed (only for a little while longer) and well, the task of going grocery shopping tends to be low on my priority list. However, this is what this blog is all about- pushing through and making good food despite the lack of funds in your bank account. This dish was inspired by my roommate, Amy, who made something similar a while back.

Note to self: Don’t talk on the phone while cooking and taking pictures. I totally forgot to show you how to make this sauce visually, but I’ll tell you what was in it. In a sauce pan, add a few tablespoons of olive oil, maybe 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, a spoonful of peanut butter, a tablespoon or two of water, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, at least a tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce (mine’s Texas Pete) and a tablespoon or two of honey. Heat this up, whisking as you go. Taste it and alter it till it’s to your liking. It should be tangy, spicy, sweet and savory all in one.

This recipe is for 2 people. Cut up 1/4 onion, 1/5 green pepper, a few mushrooms, a few cloves of garlic, and 1 small carrot. For carrots, peel the dirt off first, then basically keep peeling. They cook faster than chunks and the texture is really nice. Add any other veggies you want!

Cut up a chicken breast into the smallest pieces you can cut, and add to a heated, greased pan.

While the chicken still has some pink on it, add your onions.

Once the onions have some color to them, add the carrot and pepper.

Once those veggies have color on them, add your mushroom and garlic, plus a splash of soy sauce and/or salt.

Cook for another minute or two, and add a few tablespoons of cilantro. The cilantro is SO important! It perks up the taste like nobody’s business.

Stir and take off the heat. You want the cilantro to be fresh, not overcooked by the time you serve it.

Go to your local oriental food market and find some spring roll wrappers. These are easy to find and cheap! This package that has about 32 rolls in it only cost $1.39!

So by the way, this is an awesome dish to serve with friends who are up for an interesting dinner. If you have guests, put a deep plate or pan with lukewarm/warm water in the middle. People then take a rice sheet and stick it in the water for a few seconds till it’s totally soft, but not falling apart. They can then make their own spring rolls with their own ingredients! Awesome idea, Amy.

When you take them out of the water (should take at least 5-10 seconds) they should look like this.

Put the wrap on your plate and add the chicken & veggie mixture.

Wrap it up like a burrito, carefully! Don’t you love how you can see all the ingredients!?

Serve without the sauce if you prefer….

But how boring is that?! Serve with the crazy peanut spicy sauce, yo! Oh man, I’m hungry all over again. This was so delicious.

1 Serving=2 rolls
1/8 Onion – ~$.09
1/10 Green Pepper – ~$.09
1/2 Small carrot – ~$.10
1 Mushroom – ~$.19
2 Wrappers –  ~.08
Sauce Ingredients – ~approx~ $.15
1 Serving – ~$.70