When the summer heat hits and it’s too hot to start the oven, turn to our Vegetable Summer Rolls! They make a great appetizer, lunch or a light dinner with no “cooking” required. We paired them with 2 delicious homemade sauces; a sweet chili sauce (which is spice-a-licious) and a creamy peanut sauce to cool it down.
What’s in our Summer Rolls?
These summer rolls are comprised of only vegetables, so they are super healthy and nutritious. Red leaf lettuce, red cabbage, carrots and cucumbers make up the crunch factor portion of the roll. Then for creaminess, we added sliced avocado. And sprinkled on green onion and cilantro. But feel free to play around with different veggies, meats (shrimp would be amazing) or rice vermicelli.
How to make a Summer Roll
Let’s talk sauces
Forewarning, you will want to eat these sauces straight out of the bowl with a spoon! We made 2 sauces that complement each other beautifully. The first, Sweet Chili Sauce, which is actually quite spicy but you can alter the spice level by how many chili flakes you add. Next up is the creamy dreamy Peanut Sauce. Which is so easy, you literally toss all of the ingredients in the food processor, blend, and that’s it!
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If you try this recipe comment below and let us know how you roll! Get creative with it! And if you post your adaptation of this recipe on social media tag #hearthealthygreek in your Instagram and Facebook post.
Vegetable Summer rolls
Ingredients
Summer Roll Ingredients
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup cucumber
- 1 cup carrots
- 1 cup red cabbage
- ¾ cup green onion chopped
- ¾ cup cilantro chopped
- 10 leaves lettuce
- 10 rice paper wrappers
Peanut sauce
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- ½ tsp rice vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
Sweet chili sauce
- 1 cup water + 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp chili flakes
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
Peanut Sauce
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Sweet Chili Sauce
- Start by heating a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup of water and chili flakes and bring to a boil. Add in honey and rice vinegar and reduce the heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine cornstarch with 2 tbsp water and stir until combined. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture and continuously stir which should immediately start to thicken. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, the sauce will continue to thicken. Then serve or store in an airtight container
To Assemble to Rolls:
- Start by thoroughly washing all of the vegetables. Peel the cucumbers and carrots and julienne. Chop the cabbage into thin strips. Cut the avocados in half and cut into slices.
- Once all of the veggies have been prepared clear a large space on a countertop or table to begin assembling the rolls.
- Fill a large shallow bowl with warm water and set aside.
- Dip 1 rice paper sheet into the warm water making sure the wrapper get completely wet but remains slightly firm. Carefully lay the wet rice paper onto a clean flat surface.
- Start to layer the vegetables onto the lower middle part of the wrapper. Add the lettuce and then cabbage, carrots and cucumber. Top with 2 slices of avocado and sprinkle with green onion and cilantro.
- Make sure you work rather quickly or the rice paper will stick to the surface and you will be unable to roll it. Start by rolling the bottom portion of the rice paper over the top of the bed of vegetables.
- Then roll upwards and fold in the sides one at a time and keep rolling upwards.
- Transfer the finished roll to a plate and continue making rolls until all of your ingredients have been used up (usually makes 10).
- Serve immediately
I eat these all the time…I absolutely love them. I switch it up sometimes adding basil, mint or other herbs, and chicken. A nice change from a salad.
Thank you so much for the rating Lori! Your herb additions sound fantastic – thanks for sharing your variation!
-Christina & Alexa