Have you ever encountered a cat with a voracious appetite for vegetables?
Our little (big) fellow, Monsieur Black, is particularly fond of cucumber and red bell pepper (he also happens to love fresh watermelon and apricot). Upon smelling cucumber, he has been known to wake from a deep slumber two floors away and fly into the kitchen like his life depended on it.
Now I’m no cat whisperer but I’ve always understood felines to be obligate carnivores – meaning, their digestive systems are designed to derive nutrients principally, if not exclusively, from animal proteins. Cats cannot digest vegetables nor derive nutrients from them. Which leads our entire family to wonder, what the what?!
Beyond the jokes about the not-so-accidental coincidence of a nutritionist’s cat liking veggies, I can’t, for the love, put my finger on the precise allure they hold for our frisky friend. My top guesses, if I must, would be that he is either drawn to the water content in these vegetables (although he quite likes drinking directly out of the toilet bowl) or, possibly more likely, there is some combination of enzymes in these vegetables that he can smell/detect readily and simply can’t resist.
Either way, it’s kinda funny if you ask me.
Does your cat eat unusual things?
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| Monsieur Black hanging out with his best friend & baby ‘sister’ Stella |
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Veggie and White Bean Rice Rolls with Sweet Mango & Ginger
For the Rice Rolls
- 2 cups cooked white beans (cannellini), thoroughly rinsed if using canned
- 1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into long thin’ish strips (julienned)
- 1 red bell pepper, jullienned
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 1 large, ripe avocado, julienned
- 1 bundle fresh mint
- 12 or so sheets of rice paper (available in the Asian section of most grocery stores)
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp fresh grated ginger root
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes if desired
- sprinkling of sesame seeds
One of the few ingredients I insist on when making these rice wraps is fresh mint. The flavour and freshness it imparts is simply irreplaceable in my view (but that’s just me. Naturally, do as you wish).If you haven’t worked with rice paper before, you may need some practice to get the hang of it but it’s a very low risk proposition. Even the most awkwardly wrapped versions (I have made several) are perfectly usable and equally delicious!
Makes about 8-10 rice rollsAssemble ingredients (your choice of bean, fruit, vegetables) and cut them into long thin slices where applicable.
Place about a half inch of hot water into a pie plate (or other suitably sized bowl). Working with one rice sheet at a time, immerse each sheet into the water for about 10-15 seconds. The rice paper should become soft and pliable but not completely lifeless (it will literally disintegrate if you leave it for too long).
Place the softened sheet of rice paper on a plate or clean working surface. Begin by placing a few mint leaves horizontally across the center of the sheet, followed by about a quarter cup of beans and sprinkles of all the other ingredients: carrots, red bell pepper, avocado and mango (or whatever ingredients you are working with).
For the rolling part, fold the bottom edge of the sheet (the one nearest to you) over the top of the filling pressing it down slightly to hold it in place and roll into a cylindrical shape halfway. Now fold the left and right sides inward and continue rolling the remaining distance until you have a nice tight and fully wrapped bundle. You can leave the bundles as such or cut them in half to expose the lovely interior. (I wrapped the cover photo slightly differently so that you could get a good look at the interior ingredients).
Rice rolls always look great on the appetiser table. I love the colors you managed to incorporate in the rolls. They looks so pretty and dainty!
Awww Monsieur Black and Stella are hilarious! So cute! You have beautiful rolls, Kelly! The color and technique, both amazing!!! What a nice healthy dish to start a new year! I love it!
I had a cat who, just like Monsieur Black, would systematically appear as it out of nowhere every single time we’d peel potatoes. He would go completely nuts for them. Well, as long as they were raw, that is! He died at the very respectable age of 17, so I guess eating veggies isn’t all that bad for our feline friends!
Another funny thing is my dogs don’t care much for meat… I can arrange chicken, slice or grind beef, shell shrimp, they’re nowhere to be seen. But as soon as I start cutting veggies, they’re right there by my side, begging to get their share. Their ultimate favorite is baby cut carrots. I can’t even get the bag out of the fridge without them knowing… Strange animals!
And your rolls are absolutely fabulous! I adore those, but I’ve never had much talent with them. You seriously make me want to give it another try. If I do that and it doesn’t work out and I end up swearing and cursing like mad, I’ll totally blame you for it! ;)
Ha! I love that photo. I only have a small dog (who acts like a cat, it’s weird) but she’s the opposite. She’ll turn her nose up at veggie, but if ham or the cheese grater comes up she’s right there. Your rolls look amazing! I love the combo of ingredients and think this would be an excellent side at one of my family dinners.
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Hi there. Food on Friday: Ginger is open for entries. This looks like a good one! I do hope you link it in. This is the link . Please do pop back to check out some of the other links. Happy New Year!
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Yes, we were up all night thinking up that name.
;0) ;0) ;0)
He is the cucumber dude indeed. I like tossing in the beans to move it into the meal category you know? Then you don’t have to do all that work (I had a few battles with the sticky rice paper) just for an appy.
Aren’t they hilarious! I swear those two are more human than most humans I know ;0)
Heehee…here’s to being bunny-like! :0)
Oh that’s too funny Heather – as soon as I read your comment, I could picture Black going after the cantaloupe at the cottage… (I only buy cantaloupe in the summer it seems!).
Cantaloupe is a popular one, isn’t it? It’s come up 3 times in the comments section…. very cool – Mr. Black likes it too! Prosciutto – yes, agreed, she’d be strange not to ;0).
lettuce? really… how funny is that. Stella appears to bypass all veggies. Simply no interest but boy does she love bread – you’d really have to guard and protect your gorgeous loaves around this woman… she’s FAST. Haha, traumatized by the snow… I hear you but you know, it’s also quite beautiful (meditating on positive thoughts on Canadian winters… wish me luck! ;0) hey, some good news though, NHL hockey is back!! (I know you’ve been following the strike Sally… ;0)
Aucun problème ma belle… ;0)
You know Suzanne, I was thinking that very thing as I wrote the entry. We humans eat plenty of things that we can neither digest nor derive nutrients from yet we are entirely and completely addicted!! (I decided not to go there in the post – ;0).
Thank you so much for stopping by Anh – Vietnamese rolls are indeed the inspiration for this recipe! So glad you spotted them and dropped in to let me know. Very kind.
Hello Oh My Veggies! So happy to have discovered your gorgeous blog and appreciate you stopping by to say hello. I only featured the 2 rolls I managed not to kill – the 30 others were design disasters – LOL.
Hello Taste of Madness (great name!) and welcome to Inspired Edibles. It’s always such a treat seeing new folks here so thank you for taking the time to drop in and say hello. That’s too cute about your chocolate vacuuming kitty. I too, like you and your cat, adore chocolate (happily now hooked on dark chocolate) but the Black man doesn’t go for it. More for me, heehee! ;0)
Whenever I nip in to the Asian market for an ingredient, I always come out carrying multiple bags! Oh, the fun…
Love it! And, come to think of it, Black likes cantaloupe too but I don’t tend to have it around as much as some of his other favourites.
Thanks Sissi! The beans moves them into the dinner category and simplifies life, you know. I love mango in just about everything!
Mr. Black has a streak of white under his neck which makes him look like he’s wearing a tuxedo – his a formal guy, what can i say ;0)
OMG *love* the quote!!! Hadn’t heard that one before. Too funny. Thanks Debra ;0)
Cats are just weird little creatures. Ours do not eat any veggies. In fact, they really don’t do people food at all. My favorite quote about felines is “If cats could talk, they wouldn’t.”
Kind of sums up the whole cat attitude if you ask me. :)
Rice rolls are DELISH! I love that you put white beans in yours, something I’ve never tried, but it’s on the radar now. Your cat is so cute…I have a soft spot for black cats. MY Fav.
Beautiful rice rolls, Kelly! Putting beans sounds like an excellent idea! I make very similar rolls with vegetables and tofu, but I would never think of beans… Mango is even more extraordinary! Thank you for the brilliant idea! I will remember your recipe when I will have leftover beans from my bean stew ;-)
Cats and dogs sometimes like very weird things… I remember when I was a child and hat cats, they loved vegetables.
Cantaloupe was the favorite of my husband’s cat growing up, crazy stuff I tell ya. Your spring rolls looks amazing! I love adding new light, veggie heavy recipes to my recipe box — thanks!
A vegetable eating cat! Well, I guess if someone was to have one, it would be you. Good nutrition is obviously contagious. :) What unusual and delicious little rolls! Great combination of ingredients! Last week I put rice paper on my Asian market list so what a timely idea! thanks!
Ooh wow, this looks so good!
And your pets are so cute! My cat (like it’s owner) dives on chocolate at any chance it can. I try keeping it away from it because I know that’s bad, but if I drop some chocolate ice cream or chocolate chips on the floor by accident, my cat vacuums it up faster than I can keep her away
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These are gorgeous! I’ve never been able to get those rolls right when I try to make them myself. Yours are perfect! One of my cats used to love licking cucumbers (although she never ate them), but bell peppers is a new one! :)
Yum! I am Vietnamese and love my rice rolls! I love this new version!
What gorgeous rice rolls my friend :)
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Another great healthy meal. Your cat probably has some human-like issues. We are also drawn to foods which our bodies can’t digest well. It looks like he is keen on imitating others hence his position in the photo – too cute. Maybe he is imitating your food habits. Very strange all round. He must keep you amused.
Could not go back and edit – I am in too much of a hurry and made a few typos… Je suis desolee’….. will be more careful, but you know me.. (sigh)
Too funny! And you redeemed yourself with the photo of Stella with Monsieur Black, too adorable for words! I forgive you the images of snow, cold, and harsh winter from the previous post, which still has me shivering and slightly traumatized.
Our Jack Russels (both Chief and Bucky) will eat lettuce, which amazes me, Oscar won’t touch it, he sniffes it and walks away giving us dirty looks. Buck in fact will eat pretty much anything, but I would say his favorite treat in the world are peanuts. If he hears Phil opening a bag and start shelling them, he will wake up from another dimension and sit by Phil’s chair. Quiet, absolutely quiet. :-)
I love your tip on the mint! I’m sure that makes the difference between good to amazing!! Never owned a cat but this is surprising to me as I thought too they were more about milk and fish !!
Oh my gosh, I LOVE rice paper rolls! There are so many different combos you can fill them with and they’re usually so healthy, flavorful and delicious!
Haha, my kitty likes strange foods as well. I’ve caught her licking my half of a cantaloupe that I left on the counter, and she begs me for crumbs whenever I’m eating bread. She also, with her refined palate, is crazy about prosciutto…can you blame her??
My parents’ cat liked cantaloupe!
What a great dish particularly these days after the heavy eating during the holidays, Kelly. Fresh veggies in rice paper rolls are a favourite of mine, bar none!
Being a bunny rabbit lover, I would guess that your cat is really just trying to be more bunny-like.
Such a sweet and cute click of Black and Stella.
These rice rolls are so pretty!
That is SO funny, about Monsieur Black! By the way, that is the cutest name ever, and that picture of your your pets is just adorable. So cute! But cucumber- seriously!? Talk about bizarre…!!
I am craving these rice rolls now! One of my favourite things to eat is rice paper rolls! I love the addition of the fruit, and the beans are totally surprising- but, why not! Love this recipe!