Summer Spring Rolls

This past week I made them as an appetizer and they were literally gone in seconds!

I initially made this dish years ago when I had a vegan friend over for dinner on a really hot summer day. When I was hosting an event the other day, I knew I wanted something light and easy that didn’t require the use of the oven for very long.

Oh my gosh, let me tell you this dish is perfect for when you have a group of people over. You can serve them as an appetizer or even as the main dish with a big platter of fruit. This his recipes is especially great if you have guests with any dietary restrictions. For me, I keep these reflux-friendly by using lower acid ingredients. You could easily omit the tofu to make they soy-free, and they are already dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan!

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Summer Spring Rolls

Ingredients

• 10 brown rice spring roll papers
• 1 package extra-firm tofu
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1 mini cucumber, julienned
• 1 orange carrot, julienned
• 1 white carrot, julienned
• 1/2 cup green cabbage, thinly shredded
• 1/2 cup purple cabbage, thinly shredded
• 2 medium radishes, sliced
• cilantro
• basil
• edible flowers
• 1 cup brown basmati rice or brown rice noodles, prepared
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter*
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp coconut aminos
• 1 tsp agave syrup
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• dash of ground ginger
• dash of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Prepare rice or noodles.
3. Remove tofu from package, cut into 8 long “hotdog” style even slices, by cutting tofu cube in half height wise, then cut in half length wise, then cut pieces in half length wise. Allow tofu slices to to drain on paper towel for 10 minutes. Coat with olive oil, place on baking sheet and bake in oven for about 25 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, coconut aminos, agave syrup, ground ginger, toasted sesame oil, lime juice, & a dash of salt. Mix well.
5. Fill a large bowl with warm water. Wet brown rice spring roll in water for about 10 seconds. Place on large plate and assemble roll by adding rice, tofu, and desired veggies to the middle of the paper.
6. Roll rice paper up burrito style; once over and then the ends, and then continue rolling.
7. Cut in half and serve with ginger peanut dipping sauce.

Notes

Add in any other items like: mushrooms, bell peppers, jalapeños, onion, avocado, lettuce, kale, arugula, mint, Thai basil, chicken, shrimp, mint, mango, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, or green onion.

Sometimes I worry these rolls won’t turn out to be pretty enough, but I’ve found if you add the radishes or a hard vegetable first it helps make the outside look uniform. I tend to add the tofu and rice at the end so they will be on the back of the roll. Also, cutting them in half makes them look way better for some reason.

I love to lather on the ginger peanut sauce and even sometimes just use the sauce on rice noodles. Adding the edible flowers isn’t necessary, but it definitely gives the dish a little extra flair if you’re serving to a group of people.