Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

In 2007, I studied abroad in Singapore, and had the wonderful experience of traveling through South East Asia. While I was traveling on a shoe string, I had no problem trying all the delicious street food. In Vietnam, every corner had a little old lady making Vietnamese spring rolls. You could get them with shrimp or vegetarian and you had the option of fresh or fried. Since then, I have loved making Vietnamese spring rolls but I haven't posted about them because I have failed to take proper pictures. These were made by my good friend and we were in a bit of a rush so we weren't able to get pictures of the whole process. However, I promise that there will be many more Vietnamese spring roll postings as there are so many variations of this to be made. With this particular batch, I was limited to the contents of my refrigerator. I decided to make this batch fresh since it was a hot summer night that we had these. After we made the spring rolls, I noticed I was out of my Trader Joe's Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce (gasp!). But alas, I was able to improvise with some spicy peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Company and some other ingredients. Consider this recipe a great first time spring roll recipe. Here is a picture of our Vietnamese spring rolls and a heaping bowl of pad Thai.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

Rice wrappers

1 small cucumber, cut into matchsticks

1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks

3 hearts of palms, sliced into matchsticks

3/4 avocado, sliced thinly

1/2 cup tofu, sliced thinly

1 small bunch fresh mint leaves

Spicy Peanut Sauce:

4 tablespoons peanut butter

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Prepare all the vegetables and set aside.

2. Fill a skillet with room temperature water. Using one rice wrapper at a time, lay it gently in the water and allow it to absorb the water and soften for about 25-30 seconds. You don't want it to sit for too long or you won't be able to use it. Using both hands, remove the wrapper from the water and allow it to drip excess water over pan. Lay on a plate.

3. Place the vegetables and tofu and mint in a nice neat pile in the center of the rice wrapper. Fold over one side, then the bottom, then the top, then gently roll the spring roll until it is sealed.

4. To prepare the spicy peanut sauce, mix all the ingredients in a small glass bowl, microwave it for 45 seconds. Mix again and serve.