Summer Rolls

Ahhh, the delights of summer produce! Especially delightful when it is a a gift from someone's garden!! We had some guests over for dinner last weekend and they gave Z. and me a beautiful head of lettuce from their garden. That lettuce inspired us to make summer rolls the next evening.

Since I am a hillbilly from Wyoming, my first experience with summer rolls did not occur until I was living in Eugene, Oregon and in my twenties. A summer roll consists of fresh veggies that are wrapped up by rice paper. Rice paper wrappers can be found in the Asian section of the grocery store. They are rather hard to the touch but soften and become pliable when soaked in warm water. There are a few tricks I have learned to working with rice paper:

• I did not have a bowl large enough to hold a wrapper or a high-sided plate so I used our largest skillet to hold the warm water and soak the wrappers.
• I soaked the rice paper in warm water for only about 10 seconds. I left it in the water just until I could bend it. If I let the rice paper get too soft, it would stick to itself or tear.
• For assembly, I set the rice paper on a plate lined with a damp paper towel. This way, the rice paper was soft enough to roll when the time came and did not stick to the plate.
• I had a container also lined with a damp paper towel ready to hold the finished summer rolls while I continued working. I made sure to keep the finished rolls covered with a damp paper towel to prevent the rice paper from drying out.

The variety of fillings in summer is infinite. I would keep in mind that these are served cold and look for produce that is crisp and crunchy. Some ideas:

• lettuce
• cabbage
• carrots 
• sprouts
• cucumber
• jicama
• radish
• fresh herbs (cilantro and mint would be awesome!)
• Granny Smith apple
• bell pepper
• noodles
• shredded chicken
• pre-cooked shrimp

Just make sure all the veggies are thin like matchsticks and all ingredients are approximately the same length.

We used bean thread noodles may also be found in the Asian section of the grocery store. To prepare the noodles, all I had to do was boil water and pour it over the noodles. At first, I tried soaking the noodles in warm tap water but the noodles were going to take ages to arrive at the proper texture. The noodles were done almost instantaneously with the boiling water. I then drained the noodles and ran them under cold water so they would not wilt the veggies when I assembled the summer rolls.

My assembly line

To assemble a summer roll, soak one rice paper wrapper in warm water until pliable, place desired filling on the bottom third, careful to not overfill, and then roll like a burrito.

Dipping sauce can be as simple as lime juice with sesame oil or a little more fancy, like homemade peanut sauce. While I would have loved some peanut sauce, Z. and I made due with a mixture of Sriracha, soy sauce, and lime juice. We would each make our own, adjusting the ratio of ingredients to suit our own tastes. Enjoy!