Summertime Vietnamese-Inspired Fresh Spring Rolls

Before summer is over, wow your guests with these light and refreshing, Vietnamese-inspired fresh spring rolls. These tasty fresh rolls are fun to make and look beautiful as a summertime party appetizer. Either prepare them ahead of time or have guests wrap their own creations from the ingredients you've set out. I've been experimenting in the last couple weeks with a variety of fillings and wrappers. Try wrapping ingredients with nori sushi paper instead of rice paper for a no carb option.

Fresh Roll Ingredients:
• Spring roll wrappers - use either 8.5 inch diameter rice wrappers (ingredients should only contain - rice flour, salt and water), lettuce or nori/seaweed sheets. These can be purchased in Chinatown for the best deal or at Whole Foods or online if you can't find them in a local grocery store.

• Large cooked prawns, peeled, deveined and cut in half (I boil the prawns in their shell for 5 minutes in water with spices, try Old Bay Seasoning or sprinkle in some salt and pepper, ginger, cayenne, garlic salt, cumin and coriander)

• Julienne the vegetables of your choice:
        Persian cucumber
        Avocado
        Jalepeño (de-seeded)
        Jicama
        Daikon radish
        Red bell pepper
        Mint
        Basil
        Cilantro

Spicy Almond Dipping Sauce:
• 1 cup almond butter
• 2 T fresh ginger
• 2 T sesame oil
• 2 T Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)
• 3-4 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1-2 jalepeños (de-seed for a more mild flavor)
• 1/4 water to thin sauce

Blend the above ingredients and garnish with some green herb sprigs

Nori version wrap: