Papaya Spring Rolls with Peanut dipping Sauce

Although I like papaya, this was my first time purchasing it. I'm grateful we do most of our shopping at Mustard Seed, in lieu of Giant Eagle. Not only do they specialize in organic foods, they carry all the non-typical foods. Bryan and I have typically made it a ritual to do our shopping at Mustard Seed every Sunday. Call it crazy, but we actually look forward to it. We make it a point to bring home at least one food item we have never purchased before. (Hmm . . . now there is another great blog topic . . . oh the foods we try . . . young coconut milk, mochi, diary-free cheese, goat milk yogurt . . . )

On to the meal. The papaya was interesting and yummy. I had no clue there were seeds inside, nor did I have any clue as what to do with it. This is when I called in the A-Team . . . a.k.a. Bryan. Most people would probably not remember that Bryan--yes Bryan--did most of our cooking when we first got married almost 10 years ago. All I cooked--or all I ever wanted to--was pizza and hot dogs. I just wasn't interested, although my mom taught me all she knew . . . and she is the best cook ever.

Bryan helped me with cutting the papaya, as I prepared the dipping sauce. The only complaint I have about the rolls, is they had too much mint leaves. Other than that they were perfect, and another bonus . . . healthy.

Simple ingredients . . . mint, basil, cilantro, papaya, and cucumber wrapped in a spring roll, dipped in homemade peanut sauce. Although I had spring-roll rice paper at hand and have used them before, this is another tricky Asian technque that requires those amazing Asian culinary skills. Anyone who has worked with the spring-roll rice paper knows they are super thin and super tricky. What an art to make it look nice.

Overall, I'd say this mission was another success.