Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Asian Dipping Sauce

When the weather warms up outside I like to eat light. I especially love dishes that don’t require any cooking at all. No, I’m not talking about take-out. Below is a recipe for spring rolls that is loaded with crunchy vegetables and fresh cilantro. It gets an additional burst of flavor from a sweet and tangy dipping sauce. The best part? It doesn’t require any cooking. It’s a perfect spring dish.

Serving size: 1 roll with 1 Tbsp dipping sauce Number of servings: 8 Calories per serving: 60
Ingredients Calories 8 rice paper sheets 240 12 medium shrimp (cooked and deveined) 140 1 medium carrot, julienned 30 1 cucumber, julienned 11 1 ½ cups bean sprouts 22 ½ cup cilantro leaves 1 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar 12 1 Tbsp fish sauce 10 2 tsp soy sauce 7 2 Tbsp no-calorie sweetener 0 1 tsp garlic, minced 5 3 slices of chili pepper 2 ¼ cup water 0

To make the spring rolls:
Cut the shrimp in half, lengthwise.
Add some warm water to a large dinner plate. Immerse a rice paper sheet into the water and let it soak for approximately 3-5 seconds.
Lay the wet rice paper sheet on a cutting board. On the bottom third of the rice paper sheet, lay some bean sprouts, julienned cucumber and carrots, 3 shrimp halves and a few cilantro leaves. Fold over the bottom of the rice paper sheet to cover the filling.
Fold in the sides of the rice paper.
Tuck and roll the filling around the rice paper sheet until it forms a completed roll.

To make the dipping sauce:
In a small bowl combine the fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sweetener, garlic, water and chili pepper. Stir until combined. Pour into a serving bowl. Serve.

Barbara's Tips

	Rice paper is delicate and only needs a quick dip in warm water to soften. It should come out of the water still slightly firm. It will continue to soften as you work to assemble the filling.
	Gather all your ingredients before you start making the roles. Once the rice paper comes out of the water, you only have a few seconds to work with it before it becomes too soft and gelatinous to work with.
	Do not overstuff the roll. This will make the roll harder to handle and may puncture the delicate rice paper skin.
	To julienne the cucumber and the carrot I use a julienne peeler. But you can also do this by hand by finely cutting the vegetables using a sharp knife.
	These rolls are best if eaten right away after making them but they can be stored in the refrigerator for a few hours. Just wrap them individually in plastic wrap so they don’t dry out or stick together.

Essential Flavor Ingredients

Asian Dipping Sauce is a combination of ingredients that include sweet, tangy, salty and spicy components. There are many variations. In this recipe, the sweetness comes from the no-calorie sweetener, the tang is provided by the rice wine vinegar and the saltiness comes from the fish sauce and soy sauce. Chili peppers add just a touch of spiciness.