How come I haven’t shared this recipe yet? It’s something I make on the regular, especially if I have left over veggies laying around in the fridge. Don’t get me wrong, I love big bowls of salads, but sometimes you want to switch it up by eating your veggies like a spring roll! If you haven’t done this before, you’re in for a treat!
Besides, these summer rolls are fun to make and even better to eat. It needs some preparations, like slicing, but with a julienne peeler you’re sorted and you’ll have cut up veggies in no time. The tofu is air fried, meaning without any oil using my faithful air fryer. If you think about getting one, don’t think deeper, it’s absolutely worth the investment (and space, yes it’s big) as it will do the cooking for you, minus the oil!
Raw Vegetables in Summer Rolls
My take on the classic Vietnamese Gỏi cuốn spring roll is vegan! Therefore, it’s has raw vegetables and I added tofu for some extra protein and substance to the summer rolls. Some of my favorite vegetables and easy to get my hands on are purple cabbage, cucumber, carrots, paprika (pick red as they have a higher vitamin C content!), creamy avocado, and fresh fragrant mint leaves. In addition, they are my favorite ways of having spring rolls for a quick but satisfying bite. Because of the crunchy raw veggies and protein from tofu and the peanut dipping sauce you’ll feel satisfied and nourished after these healthy filling summer rolls.
Find another take on Vietnamese Summer rolls here.
Summer Rice Paper Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce Recipe
Makes 8-10 rolls
Ingredients
For the tofu
200 gram of firm tofu
2 tbsp virgin coconut oil (omit when using an air fryer)
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
For the veggie filling
- 1 cup purple cabbage, thinly sliced
- ½ red paprika, thinly sliced about 1 cup
- 1 medium-size carrot, julienned about 2 cups
- 1 cucumber, julienned about 2 cups
- 1 avocado, sliced
- A handful of fresh mint leaves
- 8 sheets of rice paper size 22 cm from the brand Banh Trang (find this in your Asian grocery store or at the Asian section of your supermarket)
For the peanut sauce
- 2 tbsp peanut butter or almond butter
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup or coconut sugar
- 1 tsp minced ginger or ground ginger
- 1 tsp lime juice or vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sriracha hot sauce (optional, but oh so good!)
Method
- Drain and pat dry the tofu until most liquid is out, cut in match sticks of 1 cm wide, and sprinkle salt and black pepper and set aside.
- Thinly slice the cabbage, paprika, avocado, carrot, and cucumber and set aside.
- Thorn the mint leaves and set them aside
- Make the peanut sauce by combining all the ingredients and set aside.
- In a non-stick pan, heat the coconut oil at medium-high heat.
- Add the tofu sticks and slowly flip the tofu after 2 minutes to prevent burning, you want to have a golden brown layer on each side. Keep repeating this method until all tofu sticks are cooked.
- Alternatively, you place the tofu stick in your air fryer at 200 celsius for 15-20 minutes until brown and crispy.
- Fill a large shallow plate with lukewarm water to soak the rice paper rolls. Soak 1 sheet at a time for about 10 seconds.
- Place the rice paper sheet on a large cutting board or clean working surface.
- Place the tofu sticks, some cabbage, few paprika sticks, carrots, avocado, and cucumber in the center of the roll, leaving space on all sides.
- Fold both left and right sides of the sheet inwards and roll the spring roll forwards while pressing the filling inside. Make sure the sides are closed. Keep pressing ensuring there’s no opening.
- Repeat this method until you don’t have any fillings left and dip the summer roll in the peanut dressing and enjoy each mouthful.
