Basically these vegetarian and vegan avocado summer rolls are like a dippable salad, and especially delicious with peanut dipping sauce!

Table of Contents

• The Story Behind the Recipe
• What’s the Difference Between Spring Rolls & Summer Rolls?
• Ingredients for Vegetarian Summer Rolls
• How to Wrap a Summer Roll
• How to Store Vegetarian Summer Rolls
• Can I Freeze Summer Rolls?
• More Veggie-Forward Summer Recipes

• 👩‍🍳 Jump to the Full, Printable Recipe
• 📣 Read Reviews & Comments

The Story Behind the Recipe

My favorite color is green. Always has been. Sometimes I’ll prefer a certain shade – my lime phase, for instance, went on for years. Now I guess I’m in more of a mossy zone, but really, just about any green’ll do.

So naturally, I especially love these Vegetarian Summer Rolls. I mean, hello green! But I don’t just love them because they’re green.

Full disclosure: “Green” might also be a word to describe me and my skill level in actually assembling said summer rolls. These vegan summer rolls are pretty easy once you get the hang of it, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a few sloppy numbers before I got into the swing of things. But no worries, once I figured it out, I photographed all the steps so you don’t have to go through what I did!

What’s the Difference Between Spring Rolls & Summer Rolls?

Spring rolls are often fried, whereas summer rolls are served fresh and uncooked. They are also known as fresh spring rolls or salad rolls.

Spring and summer rolls are found throughout Asia, but fresh summer rolls are especially popular in Vietnam. (source/more info)

They often contain meat or seafood (obviously, this vegetarian summer rolls recipe does not!

Ingredients for Vegetarian Summer Rolls

For the summer rolls:

• Cabbage – I like to use red cabbage for the gorgeous color, but green will work too.
• Carrots – I use your standard orange carrot, but rainbow carrots would be so pretty here!
• Rice vinegar, lime juice, salt, and honey or agave – For pickling the cabbage and carrots. Just swap agave for the honey if you’re making vegan summer rolls.
• Rice paper spring roll wrappers – Softened so they’re nice and rollable.
• Avocado – Halved, pitted, and sliced
• Lettuce – I use green leaf lettuce, but you can use whichever lettuce you prefer.
• Mint & Thai basil – These fresh herbs add SO much flavor.

For the peanut dipping sauce:

• Peanut butter – I like to use creamy PB, but crunchy will work!
• Tamari or soy sauce – If you need to stay gluten-free, go for the Tamari.
• Lime juice – From one fresh lime.
• Rice vinegar
• Honey or agave syrup
• Sriracha sauce – Just a little for a bit of a kick!

How to Wrap a Summer Roll

Basically, you lay your wrapper out, and you place the mint and avocado just left of center. Then you add your lettuce, veggies, and basil just right of center. Placing the smaller veggies in a lettuce “cup” helps to keep the roll neater.

Then, bring the right side toward the center …

… fold the top and bottom toward the middle …

Then finish by bringing the left side toward the center.

You’re in business!

Don’t worry – no matter how sloppy your Avocado Summer Rolls are, they still taste divine. Trust me, I know this first-hand!

Creamy avocado. Fresh mint and basil. Carrots and red cabbage lightly pickled in sweet-and-salty rice vinegar. Crisp lettuce. Yesss.

Oh, and even though it’s definitely not green, the spicy peanut sauce is a must.

How to Store Vegetarian Summer Rolls

These summer rolls are best eaten pretty soon after making them, so I don’t recommend storing them. You can prep most of the ingredients beforehand though!

Can I Freeze Summer Rolls?

No, I don’t recommend it. You’ll end up with a soggy and sad mess.

More Veggie-Forward Summer Recipes

• Zoodles & Noodles with Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce
• Summer Corn & Edamame Succotash Salad
• Zucchini Fettuccine Alfredo
• Veggie-Loaded Peanut Noodle Salad

Print

Vegetarian Summer Rolls

Veggie-packed rolls with avocado, red cabbage, carrots, basil, and mint – all served up with a super easy peanut dipping sauce. Perfect light summer dinner!

Keyword vegetarian summer rolls

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 8 rolls

Calories 163kcal

Author Kare

Ingredients

Avocado Summer Rolls

• 1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
• 1/2 cup carrots cut into matchsticks (about 1 large carrot)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice from about 1/2 of a lime
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon honey can substitute granulated sugar or agave syrup
• 8 rice paper spring roll wrappers
• 1 medium avocado halved, pitted, and sliced
• 3-4 green leaf lettuce leaves rinsed, dried, and torn in half
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh Thai basil leaves

Peanut Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons Tamari or soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice from about 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons honey or agave syrup
• 1/2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce or more to taste

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, stir together the rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon lime juice, salt, and honey (or other sweetener). Add cabbage and carrots. Toss. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the dipping sauce. To a medium bowl, add the peanut butter, Tamari, 2 tablespoons lime juice, rice vinegar, honey (or other sweetener), and Sriracha. Stir with a whisk 1-2 minutes until creamy. Taste and add additional Sriracha if desired. Set aside.
• Slice your avocado and prep the mint, basil, and lettuce if you haven’t already.
• Add about 1/2 inch of warm water to an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish or a pie pan. Place one rice paper wrapper in the water and submerge. Let sit for about 1 minute, until soft.
• Carefully transfer the rice paper wrapper to your clean kitchen counter or cutting board. At this point, I like to put another rice paper wrapper in the water to soak while I’m assembling so it’s ready to go when I’m done with the previous one. To assemble, place a couple of mint leaves in a short vertical line just left of center, then top with a couple of slices of avocado. Then, place 1/8 cup or so of the cabbage and carrots inside a lettuce leaf then place the veggies just right of center. Top with two or three of basil leaves.
• To roll, bring the right side of the wrapper toward the center, then fold the top and bottom in toward the middle. Finish by bringing the left side toward the center, pulling as tightly as you can without ripping. The rice paper should stick to itself and voila! A summer roll! Repeat until all 8 rolls are assembled.
• Cut rolls in half, if desired, and serve with the dipping sauce.

Notes

Nutrition information includes the peanut dipping sauce.

Gluten-free option

Use gluten-free Tamari instead of soy sauce.

Vegan option

Use vegan granulated sugar, agave syrup, or pure maple syrup in place of the honey.

Nutrition

Serving: 1roll | Calories: 163kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 558mg | Potassium: 256mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1941IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Vegetarian Summer Rolls with Avocado & Herbs appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

Oh, how I adore getting my paws on a new cookbook. Cracking it open for the first time, devouring the opening words, soaking in the scrumptious photos. Honestly, I’ve been known snuggle into bed and read cookbooks like novels; I enjoy them that much.

So when the opportunity to review a new cookbook that interests me comes along, needless to say, I’m there. Whole Protein Vegetarian by seasoned food writer and stylist Rebecca Miller Ffrench is a delicious sight even unopened; I just want to dig right into to the recipe on the cover, and, as it turns out, most of those inside too.

Ffrench’s book is the perfect fit for where I am in my life – seeking higher-protein, healthier, plant-based meals. Though Ffrench isn’t a vegetarian herself, she educates on why plant-based protein is just as good as animal-based in an easy-to-understand way. Best of all, her recipes are highly accessible, simply made, with easy-to-find ingredients.

The recipe I’m sharing today, Creamy Cashew Soba Noodles, is nice and simple and, maybe surprisingly (at least to me!), high in protein. And gluten-free too! I didn’t know that buckwheat: 1) Is a seed harvested from a flowering plant similar to rhubarb. Not wheat! 2) Therefore, it’s gluten-free! And 3) It’s an incredible protein source – both the amount of protein and also the quality of protein. Who knew, right? Well, not me. (See! These are the tidbits of knowledge you can glean from reading cookbooks in bed. Not totally weird, right? Don’t answer that.)

With its buckwheat soba noodles, crunchy veggies, and toasted cashews all tossed in a creamy cashew butter dressing, these Creamy Cashew Soba Noodles remind me of a riff on Veggie-Loaded Peanut Noodles, but this new version feels healthier and lighter.

Equally perfect for a hearty lunch or an easy dinner, it’s just one of many must-try recipes in this lovely new cookbook, which you can find on Amazon today.

(more…)

The post Creamy Cashew Soba Noodles appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

But I always went a little crazy. Okay – a lot crazy. I’d raid the produce department, and then I’d get home and no pot or pan would remain unturned. With colorful brews brewing away on every available surface, my kitchen would look like a witch’s coven. And I’d think, okay, so it’s fun in theory to geek out over naturally-dyed eggs, but this is just ridiculous. I don’t have time for this. I’d think, next year, I’ve got to simplify.

So this year, I did it! I simplified. I made exactly three springy, pastel, perfect-for-Easter shades for our eggs – pink, yellow, and pale blue. And this version of natural Easter egg dye was easy – low-fuss and no-muss.

Making my vegetable-based dyes this year was so simple, I was almost stunned! The day before, I brewed up the dyes, then I sealed them up in mason jars and refrigerated them until the following day, at which point my giddy two-year-old and I happily dyed the eggs.

Hands down, our favorite hue is the gorgeous true blue that, remarkably, is created with red cabbage. The pink eggs are compliments of a beet; for yellow, I needn’t look further than my spice cabinet for some ground turmeric (which, actually, is not technically a vegetable – it’s a herbaceous perennial related to ginger, but it’s close enough).

My two-year-old enjoyed dying the eggs more than I expected. It was so fun for her to plop the eggs into the dye and see how they would change color after a minute – or two, or 10, or 30. Yes – I ended up with a few cracked eggs – she is only two, after all. Oh well.

And you know what? My little one didn’t care that we didn’t end up with 24 different shades. Blue, yellow, and pink were plenty exciting – for her, and for me, too.

Would you like to know how to to make natural egg dye yourself? It’s easy – so, so easy. I promise. Especially when you don’t go nuts like I used to do.

Here’s a quick graphic with the ingredients and dye times to achieve the pretty pastel shades I was going for. And below that, I’ve provided more detailed instructions.

Lesson officially learned: All you’ve got to do is keep it simple, and coloring your own Easter eggs with natural vegetable dyes is a piece of cake.

Print

How to Make Natural Easter Egg Dye

Make pastel blue, yellow, and pink Easter eggs using only veggies and spices. Super easy!

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Author Kare

Ingredients

• One dozen hard-boiled white eggs
• 1 teaspoon olive oil optional

Blue dye:

• 1/2 head red cabbage cut into 1/8ths (about 1 pound)
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Yellow dye:

• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Pink dye:

• 1 medium beet washed and quartered
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Instructions

• Before starting the actual egg-dying process, I recommend preparing a safe area to handle these highly-staining dyes – they will mark everything from clothes to kitchen counters! So be sure to cover your table or counter with plastic, an old throw-away tablecloth, or lots of newspapers before beginning.

Blue Easter egg dye:

• Place cabbage and water in a medium-sized pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, then cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 1 hour. Pour mixture through a colander to remove cabbage; discard solids. Stir in vinegar. Your dye is ready to use.
• To dye, fill a narrow glass or mason jar about half full with dye, and gently lower in the egg. Let sit for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally. Proceed to Finishing step. Note: the egg will appear lavender when you first remove it from the dye, but the shade should transform to a more blue-ish shade within a few minutes.

Yellow Easter egg dye:

• Place turmeric and water in a medium-sized pot over high heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cover. Let sit until cool. Stir in vinegar. Your dye is ready to use.
• Fill a narrow glass or mason jar about half full with the dye, and gently lower in the egg. Let sit for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally, until you’ve reached the shade of pale yellow that you desire. Proceed to Finishing step.

Pink Easter egg dye:

• Place beet and water in a medium-sized pot over high heat. Bring to a boil. Cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 60 minutes. Drain through a colander to remove beet pieces and discard solids. Stir in vinegar. Your dye is ready!
• To dye, fill a narrow glass or mason jar about half full with the dye, and gently lower in the egg. Let sit for about 2 minutes, turning occasionally, until you’ve reached the shade of pink that you desire. Proceed to Finishing step.

Finishing the eggs:

• Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the eggs from the dye and set them in a shallow bowl. Or if you have wire egg holders, now is a great time to use them! Turn the eggs occasionally to help them dry, which should take about 20 minutes or so. Once they’re mostly dry, wipe off any excess dye with a paper towel. If desired, gently rub a little olive oil onto each egg to add a bit of a pretty sheen.
• Keep your eggs in the refrigerator just as you would any hard-boiled eggs!

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