It’s nearly 100 degrees here today and I decided to make something a little more weather-appropriate than a creamy soup in a bread bowl. It may not technically be summer quite yet, but it sure feels like it, so I made summer rolls. I just used ingredients I had around the house; in addition to the rice vermicelli, you can really use any veggie that you can julienne or shred. If I’d had any, I’d also have included shredded daikon. The essential part is the rice paper wrappers. I seem to always throw at least one esoteric ingredient at you, don’t I? They are easily available in Asian groceries. They are clear, brittle, and about the size of a small dinner or a dessert plate. The quantities called for below made 8 rolls.

Summer Rolls

4 oz rice vermicelli
1 large carrot, shredded or julienned
1/2 red pepper, julienned
1/4 cucumber, peeled and julienned
2 leaves Savoy or Napa cabbage, shredded
fresh herbs such as basil, cilantro, and mint (I used Thai basil, Vietnamese cilantro, and mint, because that’s what I haven’t yet killed in my herb garden)
rice paper wrappers
peanut sauce for dipping (recipe follows)

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the rice vermicelli for about 3 minutes or until soft. Drain and run under cold water. Using kitchen shears, snip into smaller lengths. Prepare all other ingredients by shredding or julienning. Create an assembly line of sorts by arranging a large bowl of warm water, all of the ingredients in individual bowls, and a plate on which to place finished rolls.

Remove one rice paper wrapper from the package and place in the bowl of warm water. It will soften after about a minute, at which time you should remove it and place it on your work surface. Place a second wrapper in the bowl of water so it will be soft after you’ve finished rolling the first roll. Mound some rice vermicelli in a pile on the lower third of the wrapper, as shown in the photo. Because the wrappers are clear, they are kind of hard to see in the picture, but it should be visible in the photo above.

Add each of the other ingredients, except the herbs, one by one. Try to lay julienned pieces in the direction of the “mound”, otherwise they will try to poke through the wrapper, which is a bit fragile, when rolling.

Rolling the summer roll is a bit like preparing a burrito. Fold the bottom edge up over the mound of ingredients:

Then fold each of the sides inwards:

Then start rolling upwards, trying to push the ingredients in tightly as you go along. After rolling the roll over on itself once, tuck some of the herbs in:

Then continue rolling up until finished. The idea is for the herbs to show through like this:

Here is the other side:

Serve with peanut sauce:

Peanut Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1/2 – 1 tsp sriracha sauce (to taste)
10 drops stevia or 1 Tbsp sugar
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
1 1″ piece ginger, grated or minced

Whisk everything together.