Rainbow Summer Rolls with Tahini Dipping Sauce | Vegan + Gluten Free

I recently discovered summer rolls and quickly became hooked on these light refreshing delectable little packets of rainbow goodness. They are perfect for dinner on a hot summer day and make stunning party food. I like to fill them with a colorful mix of veggies, herbs and fruits and a bit of sushi rice or sweet brown rice. Quick pickled chiogga beets even look like salmon inside the roll (see that third one from the left above). You can get really creative with the filling combos and make each roll a little rainbow. Plant-based eating at it prettiest. Paired with a super quick and easy tahini dipping sauce these are going to be our go-to summertime meal on hot muggy days. Eating the rainbow feels so good!

Recipe after the jump...

Rainbow Summer Rolls with Tahini Dipping Sauce

makes 24 rolls

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ingredients

24 spring/summer roll papers: rice or tapioca starch

1 cup sushi rice or sweet brown rice

colorful veggies and fruits, raw and blanched/quick pickled: some suggestions: yellow/red/choggia beets, carrot, cucumber, fresh peas, red/orange/yellow peppers, red onion, radishes, mango, peaches, strawberries, pineapple, dragon fruit, papaya, blueberries, cilantro, basil, scallions, chives

black and white sesame seeds

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons reduced sodium tamari or aminos

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice or 50/50 mix with rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon hot sauce of choice

1/2 teaspoon finely grated ginger

cilantro and sesame seeds to garnish

1 chopped scallion

method

Cook rice according to package instructions.

Prep veggies and fruits. Julienne (cut into extra fine strips) raw veggies like carrots, cucumber, peppers. Thinly slice red onion and let sit in lemon water to reduce it's sharpness. Thinly slice beets and quick pickle them by bringing to a boil a 1:1 ratio of water and vinegar, adding beets, remove from heat and letting them sit in the brine until beets are softened, 5-10 minutes. Blanch or quick steam veggies like peas/snap or snow peas/green beans/broccoli/etc. Thinly slice radishes. Cut fruits into strips, slice strawberries and stone fruits like peaches, leave blueberries whole. Chop scallions and chives. Use whole small tender basil leaves and whole cilantro leaves.

Set up your rolling station with a board to roll on and all of your prepped fillings around the board. Also have a tray or plate nearby to place your finished rolls on.

Fill a shallow wide bowl or baking dish with warm water in which to soften the rice paper. Working with one rice paper at a time dip it into the warm water and remove immediately, then repeat once more. Two quick dips is sufficient to soften the rice paper just enough, it will continue to soften as you fill and roll it.

Place softened rice paper on the board. Visualize what you want to see in the roll. I start with the herbs first, then a piece of fruit, a contrasting veggie, and layer from there, adding a spoonful of rice to the top. Layer your filling in the center of the wrap. Do not overstuff or you will have a hard time rolling them.

To roll the wrap, fold the edge closest to you over the filling, tucking it under the filling and rolling towards the far edge. As you roll it, you can fold in the sides as you would when rolling a burrito. When finished rolling all of the rolls, sprinkle them with a mix of black and regular sesame seeds.

To make the dipping sauce, whisk together tahini, maple syrup, tamari, lime juice, grated ginger and hot sauce. Pour sauce into a small dish and top with chopped scallions, cilantro leaves and sesame seeds.

Serve summer rolls with the dipping sauce right away. Summer rolls are best eaten right away as the wraps tend to tear the longer they sit.

Enjoy!