Australian Yoga Journal — November 2017

48

november/december 2017

yogajournal.com.au

LUNCH:

Rainbow summer rolls

MAKES 10

I don’t know what I was eating before I discovered rice paper rolls.

Now I’m obsessed! There are many variations out there, but with

its array of crispy colourful vegetables, tofu and a magic dipping

sauce, I think this one’s pretty special — a vegetarian’s dream,

and a party favourite. Make these for your next event and you’ll

have a hard time trying not to gobble them up yourself before the

party even gets started.

INGREDIENTS

250 g. medium-firm tofu

1 beetroot (beet), peeled

2 carrots, peeled

1 Lebanese (short) cucumber

1 red capsicum (pepper)

1 yellow capsicum (pepper)

1 green capsicum (pepper)

75 g. (1 cup) shredded

purple cabbage

20 basil leaves

A handful of micro herbs

1 avocado

10 round rice paper sheets

METHOD

Cut the tofu, beetroot, carrots, cucumber and capsicums into long,

thin strips, keeping them separate. Have the cabbage, basil and

micro herbs nearby. Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone

and peel, then cut each half into five slices.

Fill a bowl with lukewarm water. Submerge one rice paper sheet

into the water for about 15 seconds, or until the sheet is just soft;

don’t leave it in too long or it will become soggy and tear very

easily. Place on a clean tea towel or paper towel.

Arrange a small portion of the assorted vegetables, tofu, a slice

of avocado, two basil leaves and some micro herbs along the

centre of the rice paper round, leaving about 5 cm of wrapper

uncovered on each side. I like to arrange the different ingredients

in colour order, to get a rainbow effect, but this is not essential.

Also, to begin with, be conservative as to how much filling you

use, as your rice paper sheet may break if you try to overfill it;

at the same time, you want to use enough filling ingredients to

make a generously sized roll. Initially, it’s a trial-and-error exercise

to get the right quantity, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it.

Now fold in the ends of the rice paper sheet, then roll the sheet

up firmly to enclose the filling. Place your rice paper roll on a

serving board or platter.

Repeat with the remaining ingredients, to make 10 rolls.

Place all the dipping sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender.

Add 80ml (¹⁄3 cup) water and whiz until smooth. Transfer to a 

small serving bowl.

Serve the rice paper rolls immediately with the dipping sauce.

MAGIC DIPPING SAUCE

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 cm knob of fresh ginger,

peeled and roughly chopped

45 ml gluten-free tamari

2 Tbsp. peanut or almond

butter

1–2 Tbsp. maple syrup

Juice of 1½ limes

1 long red chilli, roughly

chopped