Garden Fresh Spring Rolls

With the first week of Spring upon us, the Girls Team attempted to make spring rolls for the first time. We weren't really sure what to expect in regards to the level of difficulty, but had a really pleasant experience making spring rolls...and an even better experience eating them. :) We used this recipe, but also followed these instructions to roll the spring rolls.

We found all of our ingredients at the grocery store, including the spring rolls skin pictured below. Preparation for the spring roll filling was simple - a lot of chopping and dicing. I also tried julienning for the first time to cut the carrot and cucumber into long, thin strips. Don't let the fancy term "julienne" scare you; it was a very simple technique! 

Filling ingredients: lettuce, cucumber, carrots, 

red bell pepper, avocado, jicama and turkey slices.

Julienning.

We referenced Chef Ryan's advice from Calzone Night - "mise en place" - everything should be prepped before assembling for a simpler cooking process.

Rice paper, out of the package, resembles plastic frisbees a little too closely. 

We quickly dipped the rice paper into warm water to loosen it up. The trick was to find a quick balance between thin, flexible rice paper and thick, gelatinous rice paper. If the paper got too saturated, it was more difficult to roll.

After dipping the rice paper in the water, we layered the ingredients at the edge of the paper, covering about 1/4 of the paper surface. There didn't seem to be a "wrong" way to do this, although it seemed to make rolling easier if the ingredients were stacked on top of each other compactly as opposed to next to each other. (This is how I ended up with awkwardly long spring rolls...)

Similar rolling style to a burrito. :)

Tucking the edges, adding water with our fingers to seal the paper.

Because I strongly HATE bell peppers, and my mom nicely dislikes cucumbers, we varied our ingredients a bit and made a few varieties of spring rolls. 

Refrigerating the spring rolls for 15 minutes while we made the dipping sauce. 

The sauce was a simple mix of the four ingredients above. We also added about 1/2 cup water and some soy sauce to thin the consistency.

After the spring rolls were in the fridge for about 15 minutes, and the sauce was ready, we plated and served the spring rolls. Before we get to how they tasted, let's just point out how fresh and healthy they look! 

You guys! The Girls Team LOVED these spring rolls. They were so delicious! They were crisp, fresh, and flavorful. My mom especially liked the turkey and avocado, making the recipe a twist on a traditional spring roll which would appeal to a lot of people. The sauce added an asian flair that emphasized the flavors of the spring roll really nicely. It was also fun to work with the rice paper since we haven't done that before!

We would love to make these again. Often times, come July and August, we are looking for dinner recipes that don't require turning on the hot oven or standing over the hot stove. These spring rolls would be perfect. The basil didn't seem to bother my mom as much as it did me, but if I made them again, I'd remove the basil. Normally, I love basil, but it just felt out of place with the rest of the ingredients and in my opinion, clashed with the mostly peanut flavored sauce. 

The spring rolls also received rave reviews from our frequent taste testers. Corey so eloquently stated, "Those spring rolls were bomb." Nelson also thought they were great, and as he usually does with most food, dipped them in BBQ sauce for a "western twist." :)

If these MIHM spring rolls are any indication of the Spring to come, the Girls Team is in for a real treat! :)