Whew! That was a busy weekend indeed! Sometimes, as much as I try and hope to plan things out ahead of time for the blog, it just doesn’t work out – so last night I was scrambling a bit thinking OK what can I make that’s easy, cheap, quick, meatless, and delicious for today’s post – after bouncing around a few ideas in my head, SALAD ROLLS was the winner!
I am a big fan of Vietnamese Salad Rolls! Always have been and always will be! These are definitely not like the traditional rolls, but they are healthy and taste marvelous! The peanut sauce is also super easy to whip up and goes perfectly with these rolls!
I wanted to up the nutritional value in these rolls so I used Soba noodles made with buckwheat instead of white vermicelli noodles, which although delicious, are refined and don’t have much nutritional value left in them. You could also use brown rice vermicelli noodles here if you can find them, as they aren’t that widely available!
The soba noodles are also heartier than the vermicelli, so they make the rolls a little more filling I found! Two of these tasty rolls and I was already full!
The peanut sauce is naturally sweetened with pure honey and lime juice, and the combination of the sesame oil and rice vinegar give the perfect flavors I look for in a good peanut sauce! These rolls make a great snack, lunch, or even dinner! If you wanted to up the protein while still keeping them meatless, you could easily add some sliced and baked tofu to each roll! I was originally going to do that but realized my tofu in the fridge wasn’t good anymore 🙁 BOO! But they still turned out great with just the veggies!
Some people may feel intimidated by salad rolls, thinking that they are too complicating and difficult to make, but trust me, once you give it a go a couple times you will get the hang of it and become a salad roll master in no time! 🙂 It’s always fun to try new things in the kitchen and introduce new healthy foods and flavors to yourself and the family!
(Oh! In case you were wondering, I am now adding the Nutritional Value to the recipe box – saves time and looks better, to me anyways! Hope everyone likes the change!)
- Rolls:
- 10 sheets rice paper
- 6.5 oz soba noodles
- 1 carrot, peeled and julienned
- 1 bell pepper, julienned
- 2 green onions, cut into strips
- small bunch cilantro
- small bunch lettuce
- 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Peanut Sauce:
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ lime, juice
- 1 teaspoonsesame oil
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon pure honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (optional)
- ¼ cup water (add more if you prefer a thinner consistency)
- For Rolls: In a large pot, heat 4 cups of water to boil and cook noodles according to package instructions. Run cooked noodles under cold water and drain. Mix in 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp sesame oil with noodles. Set noodles aside.
- Fill a shallow dish with warm water. Place one sheet of rice paper in dish until it is submerged, soak for 1 minute or so until it becomes soft, carefully set on a clean surface, such as a cutting board, and make sure the sheet does not bend or fold.
- Place about 2-3 tbsp of cooked soba noodles in the middle of the rice paper sheet, top with a few slices of carrot, pepper, onion, a few sprigs of cilantro, and a couple leafs of lettuce.
- Fold the top of the rice paper sheet over the filling, then fold in each side, then roll until the opposite end has closed the roll, put on a plate and repeat the process until you have ten salad rolls! (Learning this process may take a little patience, but after the first couple rolls you will get the hang of it! :))
- For Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a food processor or mix together by hand.
- Serve with cold rolls, enjoy!
Enjoy!
Christal
Nutritionist in the Kitch
These roll ups are amazing… I ditched the wraps and made a noodle salad with the peanut dressing and it was amazing too;) I am so happy I found your website;)
Thats a great idea! 🙂
I think step 7 is there in error?
Oops! THanks for pointing that out! 🙂
Made these and they are fabulous! I actually added some chicken to mine (thus, not making them meatless) and I LOVED them. To calorie compensate, I reduced the soba noodles too. I put them up on my blog (www.mimisfitfoods.com) because they were so good and I just had to share! (BTW . . . found you via Pinterest and am excited to try more of your stuff.)
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Mimi! 🙂
The peanut sauce makes the rolls! It is so delicious! 🙂
Hey Christal, these look good! But where do I find rice paper and soba noodles? I’ve never heard of either of them! 🙂
Hey Kim! Usually in the asian foods section of the grocery store! 🙂