Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Garlic Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce

Spring rolls are so fun and so easy to make! They are healthy and light, yet surprisingly filling. The thing you have to watch out for is getting too excited and accidentally overfilling the rice paper wrappers. It's hard not to do this when you have so much good stuff to put in them! It does take some practice to roll them, so don't feel bad if you don't get it right the first (or second, or third..) time. You can find spring roll wrappers in the Asian section of most grocery stores.

I always thought that you were supposed to use warm water to wet the rice paper wrappers when making spring rolls, but I learned recently that this is not true. The rice paper is less likely to tear if you use cold water! You'll have to have a shallow dish filled with water (a pie pan works well). Start by just getting the edges of the rice paper wet and then place the whole wrapper into the water until it is completely covered. Let it sit in the water for just a few seconds. Carefully take it out of the water and place it on a plate.

The possibilities for fillings are endless and can vary depending on your mood or what you have on hand. A genius suggestion by Evan: quinoa! Quinoa is a grain from South America. It is very simple to make, and is very high in protein. It cooks up crunchy with a light, nutty flavor. 

Filling: green peppers, carrots, and cucumber cut into long matchsticks, diced tomatoes, chopped spring mix lettuce, chopped romaine lettuce, cilantro, hummus, and quinoa.

To make quinoa: Boil 1 1/2 cups of water. Add 1 cup quinoa. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and chill.

Place fillings in the center of the wrapper. Start wrapping from the bottom, fold in the sides one at a time, and then continue rolling like a burrito to finish. Serve with Garlic Ginger Soy sauce.

Garlic Ginger Soy sauce: 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 cloves diced garlic, powdered ginger to taste. I also added a pinch of marjoram.

Love cilantro!

Don't overfill the rice paper wrappers or they'll burst!

Have fun and experiment with different flavor combinations. Anything goes, really! :) A few filling ideas for next time: bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, Asian vermicelli noodles, cabbage, basil, and mint! Yummy!

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