Vegetable spring rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

Usually when my Mom, sister and I get together and meet to go to a movie, we will eat lunch first at Big Bowl.  I love the spring rolls, the dipping sauces, the tempura green beans.  I saw this recipe in a cook book called Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson.  If you have never made spring rolls, the spring roll wrappers can be purchased near the fresh vegetables, near the won-ton wrappers, and usually right by where the tofu is sold.  They are paper thin, and you dip the wrapper in warm water before you fill it, so it is more pliable.  I love peanut sauce.  You can use this sauce as a dip as well as making chicken satay, which is served at a lot of Asian cuisine restaurants.  Here is what you will need:8 spring roll wrappersFilling:

• 1 cup napa cabbage (sometimes I have used broccoli slaw)
• 1/4 cup shredded carrots
• 1 small red pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts (or you can use leftover rice)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

 1. Dip a wrapper into a shallow bowl of warm water to soften.  Remove from the water and place it on a piece of plastic wrap that has been placed on a flat working surface.  
2. To make the filling, arrange a small amount of each ingredient on the bottom third of the wrapper.  Bring the bottom edge over the filling and fold in the sides tightly.  Dab the top edge with water and roll up tightly, using the plastic wrap to help you roll. Place on a platter until they are all complete.  
3. You can eat them right away, or cover with plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.  Cut in half and serve with the dipping sauce. Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

• 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
• 1 TB. minced garlic
• 1/4 cup tamari or other soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water, or more as needed
• 1 TB. rice vinegar
•  1 tsp. Asian chili paste
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 TB. finely chopped cilantro leaves

1. In a small bowl or food processor ( I used my Magic Bullet) combine the peanut butter, garlic, tamari, water, vinegar, chili paste and sugar until well blended.  Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Add more water if the sauce is too thick.
2. Use it at once, or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  Stir in the cilantro just before serving (or if you are like my favorite reader Christina, who does not like cilantro) don’t put it in!  The sauce will keep for 4-5 days refrigerated.   You could also serve the peanut sauce over noodles, add veggies and make a stir fry.  
I didn’t figure out the calories for the spring rolls, because they are super healthy and you won’t get in trouble with those.   
The dipping sauce makes 1 cup/or 16 tablespoons.  Each tablespoon is 58 calories, 4.25 fat and .5 fiber.  I’ve even thinned out the sauce with a little chicken stock if I serve it over noodles.  It’s so yummy!   

• Some other add-ins to the spring rolls could be cooked chicken, edamame, cooked shrimp, spinach, red  onions, pea pods, etc…  You can clean out your vegetable drawer at the end of the week and make up a bunch of these!

 If you have never had tamari sauce, you can buy it next to the soy sauces and pre-made Asian sauces.  It is a rich, naturally fermented soybean sauce containing no wheat and is thicker than soy sauce.