There’s so much fresh veg available here right now, it’s good to have a few produce-intensive recipes in your back pocket to take care of business.

So! We’re doing summer rolls today. I’m even going to show you how to roll them.

Start with your filling. I’m using celery, peppers, fresh snap peas, purple kale, and green onions.

Also mint and cilantro.

These are important.

If you’re one of those poor people with over-active OR6A2’s and can taste aldehydes, sub the cilantro for parsley.

This is probably somewhere around 6 cups of veggies, including several tablespoons each of the mint and cilantro. Ratios really don’t matter, just a rough balance of each.

Again, taste a bit and see.

It’s enough to serve 3-4 people, or two veggie hogs with some leftovers.

Use any method you want to dispatch your veg. I have a deep personal relationship with my knives, but you can use a mandolin, food processor, or even a box grater for everything except the leaves.

If you use a processor or grater though, the blunt blades tend to do a bit more crushing. You might need to let things sit for a minute and pour off any accumulated liquid.

Oh yeah.

So, I’m a bit or a rebel. I’ve gotten into the habit of actually saucing my veg before rolling instead of using a dip-based delivery system.

I’m going to make a separate post for my peanut sauce, but here you can see I’ve mixed in about a cup and a 1/4 with the veg and let it sit for about 10 minutes. When I add sauce, I usually do so about half a cup at a time, then mix everything and do a taste test. You want everything to be well coated, but not dripping or pooling in the bottom of your mixing bowl.

The acids in the dip you use (in this case, cider vinegar and lime) start to break down the starches/fiber in the veg, making it easier to digest.

Also, more delicious.

Let’s roll.

A few years ago, you had to truck it out to an Asian grocery store to find these puppies. Now I see them popping up everywhere. Just check your international section.

There may be more than one brand available, or multiple sizes. Go for something in the medium range (8 or 9 inches). Too small and they’ll be finicky. Large is a great sub for a sandwich wrap, but is a little unwieldy here.

I have no brand recommendations. Just pick one, and start there. Different brands vary subtly in thickness and stretch. If you’ve had a bad rolling experience already, try switching brands if you have more than one to choose from.

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You don’t need to soak the wraps, just run them under warm water for a few seconds (making sure to saturate each side).

They’ll start to soften immediately, but will still be too stiff to roll for about a minute or so. When they start to take on a gummy/sticky texture, and stretch easily, you’re ready to go.

Add a loose handful of your veg to the bottom 1/3 of the wrap, and do like I do 🙂

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This is best done on a wooden cutting board, it will absorb some of the water and add friction to aid your roll.

After a few wraps though the area will get saturated, and you might have to give it a quick wipe down to maintain the grab you want.

Omnomnoms :9

These bad boys are delicious, but they don’t store well once wrapped. The veg, however, does keep, so roll to order and put the rest in the fridge to wrap another day.