spring rolls - activity, dinner

Leah here. I'll typically pick a cool, herby spring roll over it's fried egg roll cousin. Have you tried a spring roll? A soft, chewy rice wrapper that neatly holds anything from crunchy veggies to herbs and even shredded chicken or cooked shrimp. I like making things you can make your own --like a big salad or homemade pizza. These types of meals are fun with friends or family, too. Lay out a big bowl of lettuce, a tray of baked potatoes or a slab of rolled out pizza dough. Line up the toppings and let everyone make their own creation. Throw spring rolls in to that category of "activity dinner."

To start, you need rice wrappers. They seem scary. Thin, wispy...and the packaging is typically not in English. Luckily, you can now find them at most supermarkets with a decent selection of Asian ingredients

I've used a few different spring roll recipes. Recently I tried this one from Williams Sonoma. It had a great tip about layering TWO rice wrappers for a sturdier roll. GENIUS! Decide how many rolls you want or need. I made six rolls and cut them in half making 12 half rolls. Plenty for hubs and me to snack on throughout the evening.

Prep all the ingredients you need for your roll recipe. This takes a bit of time. Give a few people a chopping, dicing or peeling job and it will go faster. Organize your ingredients in a line by how you will add them to your roll. You will thank me for this. I'm an old pro (ha!) so I just piled mine up on a plate. (an upside down plate, sorry, I'm no computer expert!)

My recipe called for green lettuce (tender butter lettuce would have been better here), cucumber, avocado, carrots shredded (would have been better as small matchsticks), basil, and mint. Also good in spring rolls--cilantro, thinly sliced jalapeno, rice  noodles...sky is the limit. These were vegetarian but I like cooked shrimp in mine.

Fill a wide, shallow bowl with warm water. Lay a clean kitchen towel next to the bowl. Here is where things can get scary--be brave! See how the rice wrapper is hard and crunchy? You're about to give it a bath. 

Dip one rice paper round into the water for a few seconds to soften--about 20 seconds--then lay it flat on the towel. You want it to be the constancy of a wet paper towel. But not a wet tissue. Got that? Ha!

You might rip it but they are actually pretty forgiving. That's why I like the double wrapper idea. Dip a second wrapper into the water and lay it directly on top of the first one. Get ready to work quickly. 

For my recipe, I centered a lettuce leaf on top of the stacked rice papers. Starting about one-third in from the edge closest to you, arrange your herbs in a line across the lettuce. 

Top the greens with a small row of each of your veggies or meat. Here are my carrots, cucumbers and avocado. You don't need much so don't over stuff the roll.

Now, think burrito! Lift the bottom edge of the wrapper up and over the bottom third of the filling and then roll once tucking the veggies in.

Fold in the sides of the wrapper and continue rolling it and tucking it into a tight cylinder.

 Set aside, seam side down. They will start to dry out so another secret--cover them with a damp (not wet) kitchen towel or a few damp paper towels. You can even make these a few hours ahead if needed. Keeping them covered will keep everything fresh. When ready to serve, cut in half.

Keep stuffing, rolling and tucking and you'll get  a plate full of crisp, fresh, yums. 

The dipping sauce I made this time is actually miso dressing from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook “My Father’s Daughter." It's not for everyone, but everyone (every peanut eater) should love this peanut dipping sauce I've used several times from Chow.com. Like what you see here? Then please start with his recipe for shrimp summer rolls---my favorite to date.

I love getting friends and family in the kitchen. What is our favorite activity meal? Grilling? Cookie decorating?