rainbow summer spring rolls
with chili peanut sauce

VEGETARIAN | DAIRY FREE | REFINED SUGAR FREE

FRESH VEGETARIAN RAINBOW SUMMER SPRING ROLLS!

Summer is here and all I’ve been craving are fresh and light summertime meals lately!

These rainbow summer spring rolls aren’t just gorgeously colorful, they’re also completely vegetarian and fun to eat! This recipe makes about 15 spring rolls that are filled with wholesome goodness like crisp peppers, carrots, bright purple cabbage, fresh spring mix, sweet mango, avocado and sushi rice!

To season the spring rolls themselves, I went super simple with just fresh lime, salt & pepper in order to highlight the fresh flavors of the ingredients themselves. (Especially the sweetness of the mango which is one of my all time FAVORITE fruits!)

chili peanut sauce

In addition to these fresh rainbow summer spring rolls, I also went ahead and created my own version of the traditional companion of many spring rolls, peanut sauce! This delicious duo creates an amazing combination of flavors that are perfect as a quick snack, light lunch or a summertime meal for the family to share!

THE RECIPE

makes 15 SPRING ROLLS & ROUGHLY 1 CUP OF PEANUT SAUCE

SPRING ROLLS prep time: 1 HOUR // PEANUT SAUCE PREP TIME: 5 minutes

total time: 1 HOUR 5 MINUTES

ingredients:

For the Spring Rolls:

15 Spring Roll Wrappers
1 Cup Sushi Rice (or rice of choice,) fully cooked
1 Cup Carrots, shredded or thinly sliced
1 Cup Purple Cabbage, shredded
1 Cup Spring Mix Lettuce
1 Red Bell Pepper, thinly sliced
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, thinly sliced
1 Large Mango, thinly sliced
1 Avocado, thinly sliced
1 Lime
Salt and Pepper, to taste

For the Chili Peanut Sauce:

1/2 Cup Smooth Natural Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Warm Water
2 Tablespoons Pure Honey
1.5 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (or gluten-free alternative like coconut aminos or tamari)
1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice, freshly squeezed
2 teaspoons Crushed Ginger
1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
1 teaspoon Chili Paste
1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

method:

For the Spring Rolls:

Wash and slice all vegetables in preparation for spring rolls assembly and put them on a plate within reach.
Fill a shallow bowl or dish with warm water and set a clean tea towel next to the bowl.
Place one spring roll wrapper into the warm water and let it soak for 10-15 seconds. Leave it in long enough so that the wrapper becomes pliable but not too soft that it rips. Carefully place it down flat onto the tea towel.
In the lower third of the wrapper, leaving about 1-2 inches of space on all sides, begin to add your filling. Start by putting about 1 tablespoon of rice down onto the wrapper, followed by a couple of pieces of spring mix, purple cabbage. Next, add a couple of strips of red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper and sliced carrots next to the rice, lettuce and cabbage. On top of these ingredients, add one slice of mango and one slice of avocado.
Season the laid-out ingredients with a small squeeze of lime, a crack of black pepper and a small sprinkle of sea salt.
To wrap the spring rolls, carefully pull the bottom edge, closest to the other ingredients, up over filling and roll once or just until the ingredients are enclosed. Fold the shorter sides of the wrapper inward over the ingredients and then roll it up the rest of the way. (Make sure the ingredients are compact inside the wrapper but that you’re not rolling too tightly that it rips.) Think of this process like wrapping up a tiny burrito, it’s the same concept!
Repeat the process with each spring roll! Top each roll with a sprinkle of sesame seeds if desired!

For the Chili Peanut Sauce:

In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, warm water, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, chili paste, sesame seeds and black pepper until fully combined.
Serve on the side of the freshly made spring rolls!

recipe notes:

The sushi rice here can be substituted with brown rice, jasmine rice, rice noodles or whatever your favorite may be! I actually used arborio rice as I didn’t have any other rice on hand and it worked perfectly as a close sub for sushi rice!
Soy sauce can be substituted for gluten-free alternatives such as Coconut Liquid Aminos or Tamari.