food & dining
Summer Best
Bites L
ast week, Becca Hyman visited me.

She happens to be a friend of my
daughter’s and is also the doyenne
of “Becca’s Best Bites,” a series of cooking
videos on Instagram that features primar-
ily vegetarian and vegan cooking.

I was happy to hand over the kitchen
to her during her visit and enjoyed sev-
eral delicious dishes courtesy of her deft
culinary hand.

When asked how she got into cook-
ing and posting, Hyman answered with
exuberant good humor.

“My hobby is eating! But really, I give
a huge thanks to my mom and dad for
their amazing cooking skills. Because
of them, I have loved cooking my whole
life. For me, cooking provides a way to
de-stress and have fun.”
Hyman came to enjoy vegetarian and
vegan dishes recently: “I started cook-
ing more vegetarian and vegan recipes
during COVID, a time when we all
found some new hobbies. I loved the
challenge of thinking of some of my
favorite dishes and making them with-
out meat.”
When she moved out on her own
following her graduation from Brandeis
University, Hyman further embraced
vegetarian eating.

“I decided to continue to try to eat
less meat because it not only made me
feel good, but it also was surprisingly
cheap,” she said. “As I continued on
this journey, my friends, somewhat
relentlessly, would encourage me to post
about my process. Finally, I decided to
create @beccas.bestbites, and I am so
happy I did.

“I love sharing my recipes and passion
for cooking with the world. Seeing peo-
ple comment and react that I inspired
them to cook something new or just
start cooking in the first place is so
exciting for me.

We enjoyed these Vietnamese-style
summer rolls for lunch, courtesy of
Hyman, who is clearly invited back any
time. The rolls are supremely adaptable
— use whatever fresh veggies you have
on hand, as well as any leftover cold
20 meat or fish. The recipe below suggests
fried tofu, but we had them with leftover
roasted chicken, and they were great.

Vietnamese-Style Summer Rolls
Makes 6 rolls, which serve 2-3 as a
main dish or 4-6 as a side
6 rice paper wrappers
2 cups assorted fresh vegetables,
cut into thin strips. We used
cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots
and red cabbage.

6 large sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
6 large fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 cup protein of choice, if desired,
such as fried or grilled tofu,
cooked chicken, beef or fish.

Peanut Dipping Sauce
This makes about ⅔ cup; the leftover
is great on beef or chicken satay or
tossed in cold noodles.

½ cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
(such as Sriracha)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
Splash of sesame oil
¼ cup water (or more depending
upon how thick you want the
sauce) 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Whisk together all of the peanut
dipping sauce ingredients, and set
them aside.

Chop the veggies and protein (if
using) into thin pieces about 2 inches
long. Fill a large, shallow bowl with warm
water — it must be large enough to sub-
merge a wrapper without having it fold
over. Make the summer rolls one at a
time: Place one wrapper in the water for
about 15 seconds until it softens to the
texture of a wet noodle. Remove it from
the water, gently shake off the excess,
dab it on a kitchen towel and place it on
a plate or cutting board.

Fill the wrapper as desired with
JULY 28, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
veggies and protein. Fold it together,
like a burrito, tucking the ends in.

Set it aside on a serving plate, and
repeat until all the wrappers and fill-
ings are used.

Note: It will be harder to fold if
you overstuff it, but if the rolls come
apart, it’s not the end of the world. It
will just be more of a knife-and-fork
dish than finger food.

Vegan Potato Salad with
Mustard and Herbs
Serves 8
Hyman also made this potato salad
for a traditional hamburger and hot
dog barbecue one night. Although
our menu was by no means vegan,
this potato salad is.

One comment: I consider myself
an open-minded cook and eater,
but full disclosure, the sun-dried
tomatoes did not really work for me
in this dish. The mustardy/herby/
oniony vibe was heading in one
direction, but the tomatoes were a
bit of a left turn. I was, however, in
the minority, and the other assem-
bled guests thought the sun-drieds
were a great addition.

2 pounds potatoes cut into bite-
sized pieces (we did not peel
them) ¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¾ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup chopped scallions
3 tablespoons finely chopped
oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped dill
Cook the potatoes in salted boiling
water, covered, until tender, about
15 minutes. Cool the potatoes com-
pletely — refrigerate to accelerate
this process, if desired.

Whisk the oil, vinegar, mustard,
salt and pepper in a bowl, and pour it
over the potatoes. Toss to coat.

Add the remaining ingredients,
and toss them to combine. Let it sit
for a few hours if possible to allow
the flavors to blend.

Serve at room temperature or
chilled. JE
Photo by Keri White
KERI WHITE | SPECIAL TO THE JE