Pad Thai Summer Rolls

 Summer rolls take me back to college. One of our default after church lunches was at Clay Pot, by the time we moved DH had been going there for something like 8 years. Part of the lunch special was starting with goi cuon ga with a peanut dipping sauce. I usually followed it with a chicken clay pot (I'm not a huge pho fan) but DH would get the lemongrass chicken, extra spicy.

These rolls are pretty much a full meal, maybe could fit in more vegetables but otherwise, fairly balanced. If you want to include the spread in the rolls or not is up to you, we found it less messy but we ate them right away. If you plan on waiting a little while you might want to thin it out and use it as a dipping sauce so it doesn't overly soften the wrappers.

Seasoned Kale Chips and Knockoff Whataburger Spicy Ketchup

 After a failed soup left us with a giant bunch of kale, I felt the need to use it up. What better way then trying my hand at kale chips? Now I've never actually had kale chips - homemade or store bought before this adventure so I went in with zero expectations other wanting to use up the green leafy thing taking up the entire bottom shelf of the fridge. I'd say it was a success. DH likes it because it serves as a decent vehicle for ketchup.

I didn't like the spice level with the spicy ketchup (seriously, try it with the kale) but DH wanted more of a bite. It's been reflected in the recipe. DH isn't going back to Texas anytime soon and can't justify the 19+ for ketchup so he came up with a basic knockoff. Whatburger ketchup is noticeably sweeter than Heinz since they use sugar and HFCS. I think honey might be a nice use instead of sugar but that's up to you.

Baked Falafel and Homemade Tzatziki

I've tried fried falafel, both homemade and at restaurants and while they're good - the oil upsets my stomach (no surprise there, what doesn't these days.) There are a number of recipes out there for falafel both baked and fried, so I cobbled a number together to make a mostly baked version. DH and I both liked the result. I had mine on a salad but DH had his on tortilla (I know pitas are traditional but I didn't want the extras hanging around the house and we needed tortillas for another meal that week.) Using Tori Avey's notes on cooking chickpeas, I used only soaked chickpeas for this recipe to let them have a better chance of holding together. I've made this with canned as well but tried frying them, let's just say our frying technique needs a little (lot) of work, not something we'll probably get around to improving unless I'm really craving fasnachts one year.