Spring Rolls with Shrimp with Mint Chutney and Almond Butter Dipping Sauce

Put 1 pound of shrimp in a half gallon of boiling salted water. Do not put the shrimp in until the water is boiling and stay close because they cook quickly- only a minute or two. They'll firm up and usually turn a little pink- you don't want to overcook them. Turn off the burner but don't pour out the hot water- you're going to use it for the vermicelli noodles. Put the shrimp in an ice bath when you take them out of the water to keep them from overcooking and once they're cool, remove the shells and the vein and return them to ice bath.

Put the vermicelli noodles in the hot water and soak until they're tender- about 5 minutes. Remove from the pot, drain and pat dry.

If you've got people helping you someone can be making the sauces while others are prepping the veggies. Little kids and chef's knifes aren't a good combination, but you can have kids tearing lettuce into manageable pieces. So what if some of the pieces are a little mangled. Cutting carrots and radishes is a great way to get on the wrong end of a chef's knife, especially if your cooking time is accompanied with a glass or two of wine or cocktails. I cut the ends off of radishes to give me a flat spot to anchor the radish, with carrots or cucumbers I'll split them lengthwise to give me a flat side to lay on the cutting board. Cut the carrots, cucumber, radishes are any other hard veggies that you're using into match sticks.

For the sauces I use an immersion blender, but a heavy duty blender or food processor will also work. With an immersion blender put the almond butter, the tamari sauce, the lime juice, maple syrup and a tablespoon of hot water in a cup big enough to handle the blender head and the ingredients. Blend. If needed blend in additional hot water to achieve desired dipping consistency. Salt to taste.

For the Mint Chutney add the cilantro, mint, red onion, coconut, lemon juice, jalapeno, garlic, ginger and water to a deeper bowl or to a blender jar or food processor. Blend till desired consistency. If necessary add additional water. Salt to taste.

The rice wrappers need to be wetted to soften. A pie plate works great, but any other container will work. Place a wet wrapper on a surface that will let you build your masterpieces. I roll a flap up from the bottom, fold the ends in and then roll it up. It's hard to roll an overstuffed spring roll, but the nice thing about this is you get to eat your failures. Enjoy!