It’s official people, we are experiencing a heat wave in the midwest. When it comes to summer food and heat waves, summer rolls are exactly what we need to get by.
If you’ve been following the blog for a while you probably already know that while I love to cook I am incredibly intolerant of high temps. To cope in the summer I make a lot of easy meals that require minimal or no cooking. If I can whip together dinner without even turning on the stove I am a happy camper.
Fresh/summer rolls are the ultimate easy and delicious no-cook food (unless you want to add cooked shrimp or tofu). I’ve made other variations of fresh rolls before and even a Thai summer roll salad with all the flavors and ingredients that make up a summer roll. The texture and crunch of the veggies, not to mention all the colors, makes for such a vibrant meal. To mix up more traditional vegetarian summer rolls lately I’ve been adding some fresh slices of strawberries. The soft and slightly juicy berry pairs so well with the other vegetables.
I also always serve my summer rolls with an almond or peanut butter sauce to dip. With the savory strawberry rolls I love the peanut butter variety best, it reminds me of my all time favorite combo on toast – peanut butter and strawberry (so much brighter than banana!).
I included with the recipe the vegetables that I used to make these summer rolls but you can add, omit, or swap as you please based on what you have available. I find that the combo of fresh mint and cilantro really make the rolls for me, but if either are not your jam or you just don’t have them, feel free to swap or omit either of those too. Italian or Thai basil would also be delicious in the rolls.
Summer rolls are easy and delicious for hot summer nights. They are fun to make for date night, with kids, or even at a party. Though to be honest, I have made them for just myself for a meal several times over. Here’s to heat waves and no-cook meals!
Note: These are the rice wrappers I used. Feel free to swap out for the larger size to make bigger rolls.
#Mexitalianrecipes
- ⅓ c Strawberries, sliced thin
- ½ c Purple Cabbage, sliced thin
- 2 Carrots, grated or peeled into thin ribbons
- ½ c Fresh Mint leaves
- ½ c Fresh Cilantro
- 1 Avocado (optional), halved and sliced thin
- 12-16 6" Fresh roll rice wrappers
- ¼ c peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
- 2 T coconut aminos
- ½ t sesame oil
- 1-2 T water to thin if needed
- To prepare the peanut sauce, mix all ingredients and set aside.
- To prepare the fall fresh rolls, add room temperature water to a large shallow dish (I usually use a large pan). Dip the rice wrapper into the water and allow to soften, about 30 seconds. Remove the wrapper to a cutting board and pat dry with a clean towel or paper towel.
- One at a time, add two thin strawberry slices and a little of each vegetable and herb to the center of the wrapper, forming a rectangle in the middle. Fold the shorter sides (referring to the rectangle of the ingredients) of the wrapper in. Then fold one side over the top, tucking the ingredients in under it, as you would a burrito. Fold over the final side and roll the wrapper to form a roll that holds in all the ingredients.
- Repeat until all the filling has been utilized. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Happy Summer (roll)!
Those look incredible! Adding to the menu list for next week.
Yay! Thank you. Super easy and so much fun to make.
These sound so delicious! I have a lot of food allergies and sensitivities (peanuts being one that I am not though), and I am struggling in finding food I like to eat! This is great!
Thanks so much, Lisa! I’m hope this recipe will work well for you. If you can eat almonds, I would recommend an almond butter dipping sauce (I linked to the one I made for the fall fresh rolls) or you can sub sun butter if that works for you. I love summer rolls because they’re so versatile!
This sounds like such a refreshing no cook meal, I need more of these in my life!
With this heat, no cook meals are life!