Sweet Peanut Sauce with Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Ithaca comes alive again every year in mid-April. This year, however, Ithaca decided to bump it up a month. I couldn't be happier. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom, my black raspberries are sprouting leaves, the forsythia are on fire, and my sweet purple, yellow, and white crocuses seem to be smiling at the sun. I especially love waking up every morning to the birds singing again. It sure beats the "BEEP BEEP; BEEP BEEP" of my phone alarm, even if they do wake me up 45 minutes earlier.

With the warmer winds and stronger sunshine come the cravings for something cool and light in the evenings.

A few years ago, my Mom mentioned to me that she went to a Vietnamese potluck where she enjoyed a "build your own spring roll" station. She described how flavorful and light they were, and wanted me to try making some for Nick and I. This past week, my dear friend Crystal mentioned that her Mom made these for her and her husband when she was visiting them, which sparked my memory of the recipe my Mom had shared. Well Mom, it's taken me about two years, and as usual, you were right. They are amazing, simple to make, and healthy. A real winner! Thanks for the awesome tip!

This particular recipe is a conglomeration of some of the fresh veggies and herbs that are traditionally a part of Vietnamese Spring Rolls as well as some I added in because I enjoy them. The sweet peanut sauce, which I found at "Two Peas & Their Pod," makes this recipe sing. When I say sing, I mean sing like the first time you hear Josh Groban master "You Raise Me Up."

I am in love with this sweet peanut sauce recipe. As an ode to the sauce, I put its name first in the title and the Vietnamese Spring Rolls second (as my students would say, "no offense to the Vegetable Spring Rolls.").

I was tickled pink to have some of the sweet, creamy sauce left over, and enjoyed it for dinner last night over some frozen broccoli and rice.

This I'm-definitely-going-to-make-this-again-and-again recipe is for everyone to enjoy, but especially my dear friend Amy, who just went gluten-free.

Vegetable Spring Rolls

3/4 cups carrots, shredded or julienne-cut

3/4 cups cucumber, julienne-cut

3/4 cups bell pepper, julienne-cut

4 romaine lettuce leaves, cut int 4x2 inch strips

1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

1/2 cup of chopped basil

1/2 cup of chopped mint

4 oz. of extra firm tofu, julienne-cut, sauteed with some vegetarian chicken seasoning OR 4 oz. of cooked chicken strips (can be chicken breast or chicken nuggets, for example), julienne cut.

1 package of rice paper (look for the package to say "Spring Roll Rice Paper." Here is an example of what a package looks like. I found mine at my local Wegmans for $1.99.)

1 recipe of the Sweet Peanut Sauce (see below)

Heat about 2 cups of water to boiling. Chop all the vegetables and herbs. Put the boiling water in a pie dish and dunk one rice paper for about 3 seconds. It won't be completely soft, but it should be somewhat pliable. It will soak in more water as time progresses, so don't worry if it is a little dry when you take it out of the water. Lay it flat on a cutting board and begin piling on the veggies (about 1 Tb), herbs (about 1 tsp) and tofu or chicken (about 1 Tb). When you have added all of your ingredients, roll up the spring roll like a burrito. If it's not perfectly shaped the first time, don't worry. It will taste JUST as good, I promise. Obviously, I speak from experience. :-) When you have rolled as many as you can for the ingredients that you have, serve them with the Sweet Peanut Sauce (below) and enjoy!

NOTE: What is so fun about this recipe is you can omit whatever you or you family don't care for, and just increase the amount of a different vegetable or herb.

Sweet Peanut Sauce (this recipe was taken from "Two Peas & Their Pod.)

1 piece of lemon grass, outer layer peeled (I bought 1 stalk at my local Asian store for $0.18.)

1 Tb. freshly grated ginger

1 cup of water

1/2 cup fresh hoisin sauce

3 Tb. smooth peanut butter

1 1/2 Tbs. sugar or 1 T honey

Cook a 3 inch piece of lemon grass in the water for minutes. Remove the lemon grass. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir for 6 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving. Any left over sauce is AMAZING with tofu, veggies, cooked meat (I imagine), all served with rice.