These spring rolls are light, refreshing and delicious. Great for a fancy pants snack, lunch or jazzy appetizer.
I meant to post this recipe a few days ago, but truth be told, I’ve been a bit preoccupied.
Things got a little hectic after we brought home an 8 week old yellow lab puppy named Max. Somehow in the midst of the insta-love I neglected to remember the more exhausting and somewhat less awesome aspects of adorable, teething, fur enabled companions who aren’t yet house trained…whose hobbies include trying to chew on shoes, electrical cords, feet, curtains and your child’s artwork. Cleaning up “oopsies” on the carpet. Dealing with late night whining and having to be super careful not to accidentally step on him because he’s constantly underfoot and jumping all over the place. But time is fleeting and puppy hood is so precious. And he is all sorts of sweet, fuzzy and cuddly and I couldn’t possibly love him more. Also, puppy smiles, yawns and snuggles make everything better. Right Max? 🙂
This concludes today’s dose of canine adorableness. On to the spring rolls!
The recipe makes four spring rolls, but it can easily doubled or tripled.
What You’ll Need:
- 3 Ounces of Rice Noodles
- Package of Vietnamese Spring Roll Wrappers
- 3/4 Tbs of Vegan Butter
- 1/4 Tsp fresh Thyme Leaves or a small pinch of dry thyme
- 1/2 Tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- A Pinch of Lemon Zest
- 1/4 to 1/2 Tsp Siracha
- A Pinch of Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Grated Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 Cup fresh or frozen Peas
- 1 Tbs Fresh Mint Leaves
- 1 Tbs Fresh Cilantro Leaves
- 1/2 Cup Peas
- Thai Sweet Chili Sauce for Dipping (optional)
How To:
Melt the vegan butter in a pan, then add the fresh thyme leaves, lemon juice, lemon zest, parm cheese salt and peas. Cook it for just a few minutes on medium heat then set the pan aside and allow the contents to cool.
Meanwhile, grab a bag of rice noodles. You can use the really thin vermaceli style or the wider sort, whatever spins your pinwheels. Cook them per the directions on the package then set them aside.
Once the rice noodles have cooled off mix them into the goodies that you’ve just pan fried and stir it up really well. Add in the siracha and mix it up so it distributes evenly. Then taste a few noodles to see if the seasonings need to be adjusted. I wound up adding a little more salt, a pinch more parm and some extra lemon zest. Season it to your liking, but bear in mind that there is also going to be additional flavor from the mint and cilantro leaves so you don’t want your seasonings to overpower the fresh herbs.
When that’s all set take your spring roll wrappers and follow the instructions on the package to prep them. In a nutshell, you grab a big bowl of warm water dip a single wrapper under the water for a minute or so until it begins to soften and become semi translucent. Use caution not to soak it for very long because otherwise it will become gummy and hard to manage. Place it on a plate or cutting board and gently put fresh mint and cilantro leaves down all around the spring roll wrapper about an inch or so apart from each other. Remember to put the outside of the leaf face down so that the top part of the leaf will show through the spring roll.
When you’re done with that, place a healthy dollop of the rice noodle mixture into the center of the wrapper.
Next you’ll tuck the rice noodle mixture into the wrapper and roll it, much like you would a burrito.
Serve immediately with sweet chili sauce for dipping.
* Important note: These are best cooked and served straight away. While they can go in the fridge, the wrapper and rice noodles tend to harden and get tough which is probably not the effect that you’re going for. Also, when serving your spring rolls, try and place them side by side (but not touching) instead of stacked on top of each other. I learned the hard way that they have a tendency to stick to each other.