Vegetable Spring Rolls Recipe

admin September 4, 2023September 4, 2023

Vegetable Spring Rolls Recipe

These simple, fresh vegetable spring rolls are great as an appetizer or a light meal. Enjoy the spring rolls with my easy creamy peanut sauce.

I developed this vegetable spring rolls recipe because I was so irate about spending $9 on something similar in San Francisco. It was a few months ago, and I had just finished a rough workout. I was famished—a dangerous time to go shopping for dinner. My eyes and stomach gravitated towards the steaming hot mac and cheese. However, my mind kept nagging me to grab a lighter meal, so I took the vegetable spring rolls. I really should learn to trust my gut, literally.

The vegetable spring rolls I bought were stale and the filling bland. The peanut sauce that came with the spring rolls didn’t do any favors either. Every bite I took was met with pangs of regret, as I kept reminding myself that I could have made something better.

Here is a simple vegetable spring rolls recipe. I hesitate to call this a recipe because you can wrap any vegetables and make the spring rolls as big or small as you like. I picked bell peppers, red cabbage, cucumber and carrots for color. If you want more filling rolls, add tofu, shrimp, chicken or vermicelli noodles.

COOKING NOTES FOR VEGETABLE SPRING ROLLS RECIPE

Using the sauce: You have the option of drizzling some sauce over the filling before rolling up the vegetable spring rolls, or you can use the sauce as a dip alone. Some people prefer having sauce inside the spring rolls to give them more flavor.
Do not serve these on paper plates: I made the mistake of serving the spring rolls on disposable paper plates. When I took a spring roll off the plate, a chunk of the paper came along with it. Sadly, I had to redo all the rolls. Line your plates with parchment or wax paper so that the spring rolls can be lifted easily.

Instructions

Get your workspace organized. Fill a shallow, wide bowl with warm water. Lightly wet the surface of the cutting board. Place the vegetables on plates or bowls and get them close to your workspace. Have a large plate ready so that you can lay your finished spring rolls on top.
Dip a rice paper wrapper into the bowl of water and circle the paper around so that the entire surface is moistened. Transfer the rice paper onto the wet board. Place a lettuce leaf on top of the rice paper. Then, lay the vegetables, mint, and basil on top, about 1/2 to 1 inch away from the bottom of the wrapper.
Starting from the bottom of the wrapper, start rolling everything towards the middle. Fold the left and right sides of the wrapper towards the center, and finish rolling up the spring roll. Place the spring roll onto your spare plate and repeat for the remaining spring rolls. (NOTE: If you find that the wrappers are quite stiff, let it sit on your cutting board for an extra 10 to 15 seconds to soften. Then, roll up the spring rolls.)
Serve the spring rolls with the peanut sauce (recipe here). The vegetable spring rolls are best consumed the day they are made.

Ingredients

Spring Rolls
22 cm rice paper wrappers
12 butter lettuce leaves
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 head of red cabbage, sliced
fresh mint leaves
fresh basil leaves

Nutrition