Spring Roll In A Bowl

Welcome, new peeps, plus a bonus viral video where you shake your stir fry...in a bag.

A couple of things have been happening this past week in my world.

First, Pixar/Disney announced the cast of the upcoming Toy Story 5 (here’s the trailer, it looks SO GOOD), and I can finally say publicly that I’m the new voice of the beloved Mrs. Potato Head. I’m stepping into the revered, legendary shoes of the late, great Estelle Harris. Truly, getting this part is the honor of a lifetime. I still can’t believe it’s real.

I went to the Pixar campus last May to record, and I had to pinch myself every minute while it was happening. Who am I to be so lucky to get a job like this? I’m telling y’all, it was a dream come true.

And then to have a cherry-on-top moment in life, I got to sit down with Mike Rowe for an almost two hour long conversation about voice over and the grocery business. He might be one of the few people out there that share the same Venn diagram of experience in both sectors of VO and CPG, and the conversation was incredible.

I’ve been listening to Mike’s voice for years and hoped that one day, I’d get to talk to him. And the experience was even better than I could’ve imagined.

I don’t know why or how I’m so lucky, but what I do know is that I love meeting good people and talking to them, and both Pixar and Mike Rowe Works are full of good people.

I will continue to grow Eat Happy Kitchen, and I welcome all the new people here because of both Pixar and Mike Rowe. I hope I help you find something yummy to eat or at least make you smile with one of my dumb videos.

Growing a business from scratch is hard, but so is auditioning for voice over jobs year in and year out. I do not take these successes lightly. Thank you for supporting Eat Happy Kitchen products.

I’m so glad you all are here at Substack. This community makes it all worthwhile. Special thanks and butterfly unicorn sparkles to all my Substack premium subscribers who literally keep the groceries going in the kitchen on all this recipe development.

Speaking of, LET’S EAT, shall we?

Who misses stir fry? I’ve got two options for you here…

First, here’s a video I made of the chicken-in-a-bucket viral trend.

I’ve now made it a bunch, and it hits each time. Asian inspired foods are some of the first to go when you commit to a low carb diet, partially because of the rice, but also because there’s so much added sugar/cornstarch/flour to the sauces. And frankly, we miss our delish Asian flavors!

This week’s full recipe for Spring Roll In A Bowl gives you all the deliciousness in a spring roll, but without the fried wonton paper (or rice paper). It’s really quite easy to take matters into your own hands and make a dish that will keep you from calling take-out and ruining your best laid plans to stay offa carbs.

My favorite spring roll is the Vietnamese rice paper-wrapped cha gio, and my recipe is a fresh and light, but also deeply umami and satisfying homage to that little roll of perfection. This dichotomy of flavor is why I love Vietnamese food so much. Eat Happy Too has a killer Pho soup recipe that is perfect comfort food, in case you’re into that sort of thing (and who isn’t these days).

Some recipe notes:

Feel free to sub ground beef or pork for the chicken. If you do, you can just brown the ground meat in the pan with the flavors you use in the Instant Pot/slow cooker portion of the recipe below.

You can use any kind of cabbage you have on hand, but Napa cabbage has just the right ratio of softness to crunchy–and it softens quickly when cooking, so be careful not to over cook.

You are welcome to add more ginger, lemongrass, or coconut aminos to taste.

If you are garnishing with Sriracha (aka Vietnamese ketchup), please know that it has added sugar, and do not overdo it. You are welcome to use Frank’s Hot Sauce (no sugar added), hot mustard, chili garlic sauce (with the rooster on it), or no hot sauce at all.

This recipe uses the Instant Pot to prep the perfect shredded chicken. You can also use a slow cooker on high for 3 hours.

It’s not a bad idea to prep several portions of the chicken in advance to have on hand for batch cooking.

As always, here’s the downloadable, printable PDF of this recipe for your files:

Spring Roll In A Bowl Annavocino Ehk

132KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

And thanks for being here along for the ride. For the new people, I think you’ll find we’ve created quite a fun community of Happies. Let’s continue the party.

XOXO

Anna

Spring Roll In A Bowl, recipe and photo by me, Anna Vocino

SPRING ROLL IN A BOWL

Serves 2-3

Note: In place of the salt and pepper you can use Eat Happy Kitchen Salt Dust for an umami flavor boost.

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs

• Salt and pepper

• 4 tablespoons coconut aminos or gluten-free soy sauce, divided

• 1 tablespoon water

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced

• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemongrass paste (available in refrigerated produce aisle)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon ground dried ginger

• 4 cups grated Napa cabbage or green cabbage (about 1 head of cabbage, shredded)

• 1 cup finely chopped mushrooms, I use Cremini or shiitake

• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

• Cilantro, chopped for garnish

• Sriracha, for garnish

To prep the chicken thighs in the Instant Pot:

Season the chicken thighs well with salt and pepper. Place the chicken thighs in an Instant Pot and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos and water. Close and lock the lid, set the Vent to Sealing. Run the Instant Pot on the Manual setting for 20 minutes, letting the Instant Pot run the entire cycle and depressurize naturally. When the metal float valve descends, it is safe to open the lid and remove the chicken. Shred the chicken well using two forks or Culinary Claws, then set aside.

To prep the chicken thighs in a Slow Cooker:

Season the chicken thighs well with salt and pepper. Place the chicken thighs in a slow cooker and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos and water. Cover and cook the chicken thighs on high for 3-4 hours. Shred the cooked chicken well using two forks or Culinary Claws, then set aside.

To prep the Spring Roll In A Bowl:

In a large flat-bottomed nonstick sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil on medium high heat until it is hot and shimmering. Add the onion slices and let soften, about 2-3 minutes. Drop in the lemongrass paste, minced garlic, and ginger, tossing with the onions 1-2 minutes until fragrant and soft, being careful not to burn. Season with salt and pepper. Add the grated cabbage and chopped mushrooms, tossing to coat with the onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos and fish sauce over the vegetables. Cook until soft, about 5-6 minutes, tossing every minute or so. Toss in the shredded chicken and mix. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve immediately garnished with cilantro and Sriracha.