June and Ronald made this refreshing Peanut Summer Rolls in the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors.  Ronald is new to the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors.  June had to slow him down as he did his part like preparing the vegetables and sauce in a jiffy like an expert in the kitchen.

The Peanut Summer Rolls is a vegetarian dish.  It uses the translucent rice paper wrap as commonly found in Vietnamese cuisine.  It is very refreshing and fragrant with the use of herbs like cilantro, mint and basil.  Summer is the time to enjoy all the fresh vegetables and lettuces.

This recipe is adapted from Gourmet and it makes 4 rolls.

Ingredients

For Rolls:

• 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 2/3 cup coarsely shredded carrot (2 medium), raw
• 4 (8-inch) rice paper rounds
• 2 red-leaf lettuce leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Optional Veggies:

• 1/2 cup shredded napa cabbage
• 1/3 cup coarsely shredded zucchini (1 small), raw
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced button mushrooms, raw
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced into matchsticks

For Peanut Sauce:

• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste or ketchup

Instructions

Charlene demonstrated on how to slice the napa cabbage.  First, stack a few leaves on top of one another. Slice the stacked cabbage thinly.

To make the sauce, cook the onion, garlic and red pepper flakes in oil in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until pale golden, about 4 minutes. Stir in peanut butter, …

… hoisin sauce, ketchup and water and whisk and simmer for 1 minute, then cool.

In a medium bowl, mix together the vinegar, water, garlic clove, fish sauce, carrot, and zucchini.  Leave to marinate for 15 minutes, then drain carrot and zucchini, pressing out excess moisture, and discard garlic clove.

Put a double thickness of paper towel on a work surface and fill a shallow baking pan with warm water.  Soak 1 rice-paper round in warm water until pliable, 30 seconds to 1 minute, then transfer to paper towel.

Arrange 1 piece of lettuce on the bottom half of soaked rice paper, folding or tearing to fit and leaving a 1-inch border along the edge.  Spread one tablespoon of peanut sauce over lettuce and top with one fourth each of carrot mixture, mint, basil, cilantro, and any optional vegetables.

Then fold in sides and continue rolling into a tight packet.

June and Ronald, thank you for making this refreshing Peanut Summer Rolls and also thank you for all who helped out in making the rolls.