Recipe: Vegetable Rolls with Ginger-Green Chile Sauce (using tortillas, make ahead)

VEGETABLE ROLLS WITH GINGER-GREEN CHILE SAUCE

"Make-ahead cocktail food doesn't get much better than this. These rolls don't even ask you to do much cooking: you just turn on the stove for a few seconds to soften up the tortillas. Marinating the raw vegetables in lemon vinaigrette breaks them down and integrates their flavors just as a quick saute would, but with a minimum of oil, so they taste clean and fresh.

I take vegetable rolls in a southwestern direction with flour tortillas. These also call on one of my favorite go-to flavor tricks - flicking an assortment of herbs over the vegetables to create surprising bursts of flavor that vary from bite to bite."

1 carrot, julienned
2 celery stalks, scraped of fibrous exterior and julienned
2 cups very thinly sliced white cabbage (from about 1/3 head cabbage)
1 zucchini, julienned from the skin to the seeds, seeds discarded
1 red bell pepper, very thinly sliced lengthwise
3/4 cup lemon vinaigrette
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 flour tortillas, 10-inches in diameter
1 bunch fresh chives
8 fresh mint leaves
8 fresh cilantro sprigs
8 fresh basil leaves, each torn in half
Ginger-Green Chile Sauce (recipe follows)

Put the carrot, celery, cabbage, zucchini, and bell pepper in a bowl. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and toss. Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature; during this time, the vegetables will begin to soften and break down.

Transfer the vegetables to a clean bowl, gently squeezing out most of the vinaigrette and juice by hand; you want to remove most of the liquid without crushing the shape out of the vegetables. Discard the liquid.

Warm a tortilla over a gas flame, or in a hot dry skillet set over high heat, until pliable, 20 to 30 seconds. Set aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Lay 1 tortilla on a work surface and spoon one-quarter of the vegetables in a neat, cigar-shaped column down the center. Scatter one-quarter of the chives, mint, cilantro, and basil randomly over the vegetables. Roll the tortilla tautly around the vegetables, brush some Ginger-Green Chile Sauce along the edge to "glue" it closed, then finish rolling it. Set the roll, seam side down, on a clean plate.

Repeat with the remaining tortillas, vegetables, and herbs.

BREAK POINT:
The rolls can be made to this point, individually wrapped in plastic wrap, and refrigerated for 3 to 4 hours. Serve them cold or at room temperature.

TO SERVE:
Cut each roll into 1-inch pieces and arrange the pieces on a large plate or platter. Pour the remaining Ginger-Green Chile Sauce into a ramekin or small bowl and set in the middle of the platter. Let everyone dip their pieces into the sauce.

TO DRINK:
crisp/fresh white
light-bodied beer

GINGER-GREEN CHILE SAUCE
Makes 1 1/2 cups

4 ounces peeled fresh ginger (one 5- to 6-inch-long knob), roughly chopped
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapenos
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the ginger, lime juice, jalape os, and 2 tablespoons water in a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in a standing blender. Puree to a paste. Pour the mixture onto a sheet of cheesecloth, roll up the cloth, and squeeze over a small bowl to extract the liquid. Discard the solids.

Whisk in the mayonnaise and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. The sauce can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Servings: 4 to 6 (makes 4 rolls, 24 to 32 bite-size pieces)
Source: The New American Steakhouse Cookbook by David Walzog