Community Cookbook: Yasmina Backström’s Veggie Wraps with Greens and Noodles

Yasmina Backström is a Greenpoint local with an Instagram feed (@basicbatchbk) that highlights sustainable recipes that are perfect for kicking off 2023 in a healthy way.

For this week’s addition to the Community Cookbook, Backström has shared her recipe for Veggie Wraps with Greens and Noodles. The wraps can be topped with homemade peanut sauce or dipped in a green cashew mint dip (or both).

See the recipe for healthy veggie wraps, peanut sauce, and cashew mint dip below. Find last week’s Community Cookbook recipe here.

Yasmina Backström’s Veggie Wraps with Greens and Noodles

Ingredients for Wraps

Bunch of big collard green leaves

Vermicelli noodles or bean threads

Handful of grated carrots

Handful of purple cabbage

Handful of alfalfa

⅓ of a cucumber

Pinch of cilantro

Directions for Wraps

1. Chop off the stems of your collard greens. 
2. Bring some salted water to a boil and dip your collard green leaves in the water until they soften slightly. 
3. Use the water to boil the vermicelli noodles or bean threads. 
4. While the noodles cook, julienne the cucumber and carrots, and finely chop your red cabbage. 
5. When the noodles are cooked, combine all ingredients in the middle of the collard green leaves and fold them together like a burrito.

Ingredients for Peanut Sauce

2-3 tablespoons of chunky peanut butter

1 large organic lemon

1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce

1-2 tablespoons of water (to even out the texture)

Handful of chopped, lightly toasted peanuts 

Directions for Peanut Sauce

6. Mix all ingredients except the peanuts with a blender or hand mixer, and add more water and lemon juice if needed to make the sauce really creamy. 
7. Chop the peanuts and add them last. 
8. Put sauce in a jar or on plate.

Ingredients for Green Cashew Mint Dip

1 full container of cashew nuts soaked overnight

1 cup of fresh or frozen green peas (if frozen, defrost in warm water for a couple of minutes before mixing)

2 tablespoons of tahini

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1-2 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons of olive oil (add more to taste)

Salt and pepper to taste

Handful of fresh mint leaves 

Black sesame seeds

Directions for Green Cashew Mint Dip

9. Mix everything, except black sesame seeds, together in a blender or hand mixer.
10. Spread dip on plate and sprinkle with black sesame seeds.