Salad Rolls.

SALAD ROLLS

Do you feel appetizers are loaded with calories and restrict your imagination to fried finger food ??? Salad is a healthy appetizer that can not only be served before a larger meal, but can also be a side dish, or a main course. Check out a fun way of serving salad. The only cutlery you need is a serving plate and your fingers to pick and lick.

Ingredients :

1.5 cup shredded iceberg lettuce , 1/2 tspn freshly ground black pepper ,

2 tbspn Mayonnaise , pinch of garlic powder or minced garlic ,

Salt to taste , 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese ,

Rice paper (preferably square shaped available in most Asian Stores)

Procedure :

1. Mix the garlic powder / Minced garlic with Mayonnaise.

2. Take a large bowl half filled with hot water. Hold two corners of the rice paper and dip it into the water. Remember that the rice paper sticks to itself so you need to dip the paper the same way you would dip clothes into a bucket of water and drain the water droplets off. The heat of the water is enough to cook the rice paper. For your reference the rice paper is shown in the picture above before dipping.

3. Lay the rice paper on a flat surface like a chopping board with on corner pointing at you. Lay a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce diagonally across topped with Mayonnaise , black pepper per your taste , salt and cheddar cheese as shown in the picture.

4. Start rolling the tip of the paper away from you. Once you tightly hold the salad in place tuck the two loose ends on either side in the roll. As the paper sticks to itself you do not need anything to glue it up. Make sure you roll it tightly so that it doesn't fall apart when cut.

5. Each roll can be cut into equal parts. It tastes better when cold . So place them in a refrigerator till it is time to serve.

Variation : You may exclude cheddar cheese if you are watching your calorie intake. You may also drizzle a salad dressing of your choice. Make sure you do not add too much of it as it may become watery and the liquid might run out of the rolls when cut.

A welcome drink and salad rolls as an appetizer will definitely fetch a lot of compliments. An interesting appetizer also raises the bar of expectation for the other courses of meal. So make sure you meet the mark.