Hearts and rolls

H is my boyfriend, my best friend, my most trusted confidante.  I only need to look into his eyes and observe his actions to see the depths of his love and compassion.  He has shown me time and time again how love can be so simple yet so complex, that love can move mountains.  And I do believe that his love for me can move mountains.  Though the butterflies that used to flap incessantly in my stomach are now much more tamed and quiet, I am warmed from the depths of my heart to the tips of my toes when he kisses me goodnight.  It's a feeling of immeasurable comfort and familiarity that no butterflies can ever be big enough or numerous enough to replicate.

He often tells me love is simple: love is love. To that end, this post is for H and the simplicity of love.

One of H's favorite foods is also the food that is the simplest to make: Spring rolls  It requires little to no cooking on my part, and it is very simple in its ingredients.  

Spring roll ingredients:

-Tapioca/Rice sheets

-Lettuce*

-Vermincelli noodles

-Meat of choice, thin sliced 

-Fresh herbs*

-Whatever else on hand/needs to be eaten 

* = flexible according to what's fresh/on sale.  Truly the only necessary ingredient is the tapioca/rice sheet because everything else can be customized anyhow.  I used to buy rice paper sheets, but I found that tapioca sheets are tastier because they're more chewy and pliable.  My mom likes to use sliced pork in the rolls; most restaurants serve them with shrimp.  I prefer to use chinese or vietnamese sausage that's sliced and cooked to a crisp.  I've not had anything but the tapioca sheets and leftover asparagus, and it was still delicious.  

Peanut sauce ingredients:

-2 TBS Peanut butter

-4 TBS hot water 

-dash of vinegar

-1 tsp dijon mustard

-1 tsp hoisin sauce

-1 TSP sweet chili sauce

Regarding the peanut sauce... yeah... I don't really follow any rules.  I've looked it up online countless times and everyone seems to have their own version of how they make it.  I suppose the above is a compiled list of ingredients that I've found most people agree on, though they may not be in the same recipe.  To be honest, I've never made the same sauce twice because I eyeball it every time and change ingredients as they are available in my fridge/pantry.   Really the only crucial ingredient is peanut butter!

Spring roll spread

Sometimes the most satisfying things are the simplest things.