Last week I decided to give being vegan the ol' college try. I am committing to a solid month of veganism to see how it affects me. This recipe is from a cookbook called 500 Vegan Recipes. I'm not a huge fan of everything in there, but this one was a hit for me, my sister, and my non-vegan boyfriend, who requested I make them for him over the weekend. You should try it!
Ingredients:
Baby spinach
1 cucumber, seeded and cut into matchsticks (that's what the recipe says. I didn't have much luck created matchsticks, but just go for skinny slices).
Shredded carrots
2-3 avocados, sliced
Chinese rice noodles (I used Thai style noodles, and the whole package was WAY too much. Half would be plenty)
Dry rice paper/spring roll wrappers (I had to hunt for these, but I found them at an Asian market. It was 40 for 99 cents. If that's not frugal, I don't know what is.)
Cook the noodles according to the package. When you strain them run cold water through them and keep them moist. This also cools them, which you want since they are fresh and not fried spring rolls.
Set up a work station with your ingredients, a damp dishtowel to build the rolls on (they stick to everything), a pan of warm but not boiling water, and a plate with a bed of lettuce on it, so they won't stick to the plate.
Start by placing one of the wrappers in the warm water for about ten seconds. It will curl up, so you have to hold it down in the water. Place the wrapper on the dish towel and layer 3-4 spinach leaves, the cucumber, avocado, carrots, and then noodles. Keep everything smallish, if it's too big they're hard to roll. Wrap it up like a burrito. This took some work and some of mine are really ugly. But they still taste awesome! I had enough to make about 12 rolls. I shared them and both times had about four leftover, which I ate for lunch the next day.
The process is a little tedious, but it's sort of fun to make them, and they're REALLY good. I bought some sweet chili dipping sauce at the Asian Market too, which made them even more amazing. These won't disappoint, vegan or not! And they're pretty frugal too. Enjoy!
it's so cool that you are so open to trying new things. i've been vegetarian for years and recently went vegan. i'm really happy with my decision. i'll have to try this recipe. :)
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