A SPRING ROLL WITHOUT THE SPRING

In thinking about what to make for supper, I decided to take the ingredients that you would use to make a Vietnamese spring roll or an egg roll but not use rice paper wrapper nor any deep frying.  I would sauté the meat and vegetables and serve it with rice or wrapped in large lettuce leaves to resemble a spring roll.  You can serve it with sweet chili sauce which adds some flavour.

It is a versatile recipe and you can substitute ground turkey, chicken or pork instead of the lean ground beef that I used.  You can also include other vegetables than those that I included.  I didn't have any mushrooms or water chestnuts to add to the sautéed vegetables.  To finely chop the carrots and cabbage I used a small food processor.  You could also use a grater to create finely chopped vegetables.  I didn't finely chop the celery and if I was using rice paper wrappers, I would have chopped the celery a lot more.  Both the DH and I enjoyed the dish and I would make it again.  

Ground beef browning in the frying pan.

Chopped celery and green onion.

Carrots and cabbage added to the pan.

Just about finished cooking.

Served with a small portion of rice.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 green onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
6 baby carrots, finely chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, finely chopped
salt and pepper
dash of sesame oil
dash of soy sauce or alternative
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Heat a large non-stick frying on the stove to high and add the lean ground meat.  Reduce heat to medium and sauté the meat until the pink is gone from the meat.  If you are using extra lean ground meat, you may need to add some avocado or other frying oil to the pan to sauté the meat.  Add the garlic and ginger and mix well. 

Reduce the heat to medium low and add the celery and green onion and sauté for a minute.  Add the carrots and cabbage and continue to sauté for five minutes.  If the mixture is sticking to the pan, reduce the heat to low.  Add the sesame oil, soup sauce and salt and pepper.  Combine well.  Serves 4.