Veggie Spring Rolls

If you're looking for something light and healthy for lunch or for a snack sometime this spring I have just the thing. Spring rolls are so much fun, they can be filled with just about anything; any veggie you can think of, meat if you want it (I like shrimp the best, but chicken works well too), noodles, or anything else you feel like wrapping up. Whip together a sauce for dipping and you have a meal! My favorite part is the chewy and stretchy spring roll wrappers, I just love the texture. I don't claim to know much about Asian cuisine, so I have no idea how these compare to authentic spring rolls, all I know is that I like them, and in the end that's all that really matters, right?

When I decide to make spring rolls, I head to the produce department at the grocery store and pick out a few favorite vegetables. I usually grab either some rice noodles or cabbage for some volume and I make sure I have hoisin sauce to use as the base of my dipping sauce. Once at home I slice up my veggies, cook the noodles, make a sauce and then get ready to assemble.  Wrapping up the rolls isn't too difficult, it's kind of like wrapping up a burrito. You need to soak the wrappers in water to get them nice and pliable, I've found that 20-30 seconds works best for me, if I do less then this they are too stiff to fold well.

Once your wrappers are pliable, start to fill. Grab a few pieces of each vegetable, a couple pieces of meat if you're using it, and some noodles or cabbage. Lay it all down on the wrapper and fold it up nice and tight. The wrappers can rip once in a while, but don't let that worry you, they will still taste great.

Finish wrapping all of your spring rolls, grab your sauce and start eating! You won't be disappointed!

Some of my favorite fillings: red pepper, carrot, cucumber, 

onion and rice noodles

Dipping Sauce for Spring Rolls
The proportions in this recipe are kind of a guess, I usually just eyeball
everything and then tweak it until it tastes how I want it too. So use this as a
starting point, and adjust the ingredients and amounts until it tastes good to you!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter 
• 1 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sweet chile sauce
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• Chopped peanuts (optional)

Directions
Mix it all together in a small bowl until smooth. Adjust quantities as needed. Enjoy with spring rolls!