For the Love of...: ...Salad Rolls

These salad rolls are inspired by what was available in our pantry and our garden.  The salad rolls you can get at a Vietnamese restaurant typically contains pork and shredded lettuce.  In this recipe, we decided to go vegetarian, forgoing the pork, and used the "spring salad" mix we had handy in our fridge.  These are perfect for a light, tasty and healthy (gluten free too) snack or meal.  

Ingredients
These amounts will vary based on the size of your rice paper.  We were able to make ~16 rolls.

-Rice paper
-Rice vermicelli
-35 cooked shrimp, halved
-Salad leaves or shredded lettuce
-Carrots, julienned 
-Cucumber, julienned
-Basil leaves
-Hoisin sauce
-1 clove garlic (optional)

Method

1. Prepare the rice vermicelli by boiling the noodles in boiling water until soft.  Rinse under cold water.

2. Cook the shrimp if you have raw shrimp.  I fried ours in a bit of olive oil and hit it with a tiny splash of sesame oil for extra aroma and flavour.  After they have cooled, cut them in half.

3.  Cut up your carrots and cucumber.  I also cut our basil leaves in half as well since they were particularly strong.

4. Set up your work station and have a bowl of warm water ready to soak the rice paper.

5. On a plate or cutting board, place a softened rice paper.  It should only take the rice paper less than 20 seconds to soften in the warm water.  Then add four shrimp halves in the middle of the rice paper with the cut side facing up.  Modify number depending on the size of your rice paper).

6. Below it, add the salad greens, then cucumber, carrots and basil.  Then add rice vermicelli on top of the shrimp.  

7. Begin rolling over the vegetables first, then over the shrimp and vermicelli.  Fold over the sides and continue rolling to the end.

8. Try not to place them too close together or stack them as you make them, since the rice paper can tear easily when moist.  You can use plastic wrap to separate the layers.

9.  You can choose to dip them in only hoisin sauce.  I fried up some garlic, added 3 heaping tablespoons of hoisin sauce into the pot, then added a cornstarch slurry to thicken it slightly.  Simmer for about 5-7 minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.  Cool this sauce before eating.  You can also add crushed peanuts and chilli sauce to your taste.

Enjoy!