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Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the first round of Project Food Blog, I’m back for round two! (Vote Here!)

For this competition, we foodies have to create a dish inspired by another country and cuisine. So here I am with a Balinese inspired lunch.

When researching Balinese food I found several things that really appealed to me as a food blogger. First, the Balinese eat very few large meals–instead they eat a lot of small meals throughout the day whenver hunger arises. Balinese food is also inspired from all of Southeast Asia, especially China and also has tropical influences because it’s an island of Indonesia. The cuisine is also a mirror of contrasts: hot and refreshing, sweet and savory, sour and spicy. There also isn’t a ton of meat at every meal—basically, Balinese food was a great match for me!

So for my interpretation today I’ve made a petite 95% raw lunch that is creative, quick, and oh-so-delicious:  A Mango Basil Smoothie with a Ginger Rice Spring Roll and Peanut Mint Dressing. You ready for it?

Mango Basil Smoothie:
3/4 cup frozen mango chunks
1/4 cup coconut water
6 large basil leaves
2 tsp ground flax seeds
Blend all ingredients in a blender and garnish with a fresh basil sprig. 

Don’t you love that bright coloring with flakes of nutritious Omega 3s? This is a contrast of sweet and savory and it hits the spot like black on Dalmatian.

The Ginger Rice Spring Roll is one of those lunches you’ll keep coming back to. The ginger rice is actually a raw vegetable blend that’s paired with crisp veggies and a sour grapefruit in order to create a delectable, but transportable, dish.

Ginger Rice Spring Roll:
For the raw ginger rice:
1/2 cup cauliflower
1/2 cup peeled jicama
1/2 inch square fresh ginger
Peel the jicama with a vegetable peeler(see picture 1). And place all ingredients in a food processor pulsing for five second intervals until it forms a rice texture. This really should take more than 10-15 seconds.  

Then it’s time to add the ginger rice into spring roll paper with veggies galore. For these spring rolls I used:
1/2 grapefruit
1/2 avocado
1/2 cucumber
1 peeled carrot
chopped romaine
Soak the spring roll paper (found in the Asian isle of your supermarket) in warm water to soften for about 1 minute. Then stack ginger rice, grapefruit, and other veggies into the paper on the side closest to you. Roll and wrap away from you.  Tuck the edges while rolling to seal the wrap.

Lastly, the dish would not be complete without this eat-from-the-glass Peanut Mint Dipping Sauce. One of the other things I learned about Balinese cuisine is that they love their condiments. What I also learned today, was that I love them too!

Peanut Mint Dipping Sauce:
3 Tbs peanut butter
1 Tbs sesame oil
1/4 cup loose mint leaves
1/4 cup coconut water
1 tsp agave nectar (or other sweetener)
pinch pink Himalayan salt
pinch Cayenne pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients, possibly adding more coconut water for the right consistency. Garnish with a mint leaf.