Rainbow Rolls with Ginger Almond Sauce

This recipe combines a rainbow of veggies that support our natural detoxification processes and add nice boost of fiber. Win! Paired with a protein of your choice (shrimp, chicken, tofu), these versatile rolls are perfect for lunch or to serve as an appetizer at your next summer soiree.

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Rainbow Rolls with Ginger Almond Dipping Sauce

Yield: 8 rolls + dipping sauce

Author: Carly Knowles, MS, RDN, LD + Carmen Shah

Ingredients

Rolls

• 2 cups dried thin rice noodles or vermicelli rice noodles
• Toasted sesame oil
• 1 bunch rainbow chard, destemmed and each leaf torn in half crosswise
• 1/2 small red cabbage, cored and shredded or thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
• 1 yellow bell pepper, julienned (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 English cucumber, seeded and julienned (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup cilantro, destemmed (thin stems ok)
• Eight (8 inch) spring roll rice paper wrappers

Dipping Sauce

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cream almond butter or peanut butter
• 2 inches fresh ginger (peel on ok if organic)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes or gochugaru

Instructions

1. Follow the manufacturers instructions for cooking the rice noodles. Once they’re cooked, drain in the softened noodles and rinse in cold water to cool. Add them to a medium size bowl and toss the splash of sesame oil to keep them from sticking together. Set aside.
2. Prepare the chard, red cabbage, bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, and cilantro: set side. In a blender, blend all the sauce ingredients (see next page) on high until smooth. Pour into a small serving bowl and set aside. Lay out all of your ingredients in assembly-line fashion (aka mise en place) and get ready to put the rolls together. Include a prepared proteins source in your me some plus if desired. Poor warm water about 1/4 inch deep onto around plate or into a baking dish (large enough to accommodate the dimensions of a rice paper wrapper) and set aside another empty round plate. These will become your rice paper rapper station. Now, you’re ready to roll.
3. Start by dipping one rice paper wrapper into the warm water for about 20 seconds or until soft and pliable (replenish wam water as needed). Remove it and gently place it on the empty plate, unfolding any areas. In the center of the prepared wrapper, lay down a piece of rainbow, chard vertically lengthwise and add 3 to 4 pieces of each prepared vegetable in a neat line in the middle of the leaf. Add a heaping line of oiled rice noodles on top of the vegetables, along with a healthy, helping of cilantro leaves.
4. Starting at the bottom of the chard leaf (leaving the rice paper alone for now), roll it over the contents, tucking in any stray vegetables, finishing with the seam side down. Recenter the wrapped chard role in the middle of the rice paper and fold the left and right edges of the rice paper in an over the chard roll. Next, gently wrap the bottom edge closest to you up and over the chard roll, continuing until fully wrapped and secured. I find that this process is easiest with wet hands. Set aside and repeat with the remaining rolls.
5. To prevent the completed rolls from sticking together, I rub a drop or two of sesame oil on the outside of each roll before stacking them together on a serving plate. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate for 20 minutes until cold and serve with the ginger almond butter dipping sauce. You can also wrap each roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate to enjoy at a later time. The rolls will store well in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days before the rice paper wrapper will become chewy and start to dry out. The ginger almond butter sauce can be stored in a jar with an airtight lid and refrigerated up to 7 days.

Copyright 2023, Radiant Knowing LLC, Original recipe.