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Summer rolls are extremely versatile and a beautiful dish to share with your friends or family. You can use pretty much whatever fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs you have in your fridge. Get creative with the combinations, and serve with a generous helping of peanut sauce.
Cook Time: 20 minutes. Serves: 15 rolls
Ingredients:
Rice paper
1 block of rice noodles
Glug of tamari or soy sauce
Glug of sesame oil
Leafy greens — spinach, massaged kale, microgreens like alfalfa sprouts
Thinly sliced veggies — carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers
Thinly sliced fresh fruit — mango, avocado, pineapple
Chopped fresh herbs — cilantro, mint, basil, green onions
Method:
- 1) Start by preparing your filling. Soften your rice noodles in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes — because these noodles are so thin it doesn’t take long at all for them to cook. Once they are soft, pour them into a strainer and rinse with cold water to stop them from sticking. Season your noodles with a glug of each sesame oil and soy sauce.
- 2) Next you want to wash and thinly slice all your fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
- 3) Now to make your rolls. Heat up water in a shallow pan, but don’t make it so hot that you’re not able to dip your fingers in. Dip your rice paper in the hot water for no more than 10 seconds and place your softened rice paper onto a cutting board or another flat surface. You want to fill your roll as if it were a burrito. Start with a small handful of rice noodles, then add a small amount of leafy greens, sliced fruits, and vegetables, and top it off with your fresh herbs. Again, roll up your summer roll exactly the same way as you would a burrito — start by folding in each side, then roll from top to bottom.
(Andrea Sadowski/The Cascade)
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
