When we get a lot of lettuce from the CSA, especially that beautiful red Romain, I like to do a “roll your own springrolls” night. There’s no set recipe, just a bunch of stuff out on plates that we can roll up in rice paper and eat. Here’s a list of possible ingredients:

cooked shrimp
cooked pork, chicken, or beef
tofu
julienne carrots
bell pepper
jalapeno
rice noodles
mango
crushed peanuts
cilantro
Thai basil
mint
lettuce
bean sprouts
cucumber
Hosin sauce
Siracha sauce
Peanut sauce

Getting the rolls to work is really all about setup:

You need a big bowl of water for your rice paper, and a towel to construct your rolls on. Here’s how I do it:

1. Soak rice paper round for about 15 seconds in water
2. Spread out on towel
3. Coat lightly with sauce of your choice – I like Hosin
4. Add a leaf of lettuce
5. Add a little handful of rice noodles
6. Dress with anything else you like
7. Add herbs of your choice
8. Roll up burrito style – fold in the edges and then roll tightly.
9. Nom

The setup is a bit of work depending on how many options you want, but its a great healthy, fresh, light dinner. And it’s fun at a party and way less work than making sushi rice!