Spring Rolls are a healthy alternative to wraps and salads, giving you nutrition and an exciting way to eat! Enjoy!

To make healthy vegetable spring rolls, you'll need dry rice paper that comes in flat circles. You can find rice paper in the Asian section of your local grocery store or in most Asian food shops. You can use just about anything you’d like as a filling for spring rolls. Vegetables should be either lightly steamed or sauteed and sliced into thin slivers. If you’re using noodles, it works best to break them in half before cooking so they’re not too long. Fresh herbs are wonderful to use in spring rolls as well.

Submerge 2-3 spring roll wrappers at a time in hot (not boiling) water until completely pliable, about 15 seconds. Wrappers will become fragile, so I recommend using your hands for this. Remove from water and lay one wrapper on a flat surface, setting others aside. If your wet wrappers have small holes in them, place the holes closest towards yourself on your flat surface. For larger holes, use a double layer of wrappers.

Spoon about 2 tablespoons of your filling horizontally on your wrapper, just below the middle.

Fold wrapper perpendicular to your filling, on both sides, then roll from bottom to top, keeping pressure as you roll.Continue rolling the spring roll up towards the top of the wrapper. If your wrapper won’t seal closed, sprinkle the top with a bit of water or make a roux of one part water and one part cornstarch to use as a sealant.

Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy! For a vegan egg roll, simply deep dry your finished spring roll and viola!

To review a few key points:  

• Be sure to allow excess water to drip off of rice paper before laying the paper down on your rolling board.   
• Lay softer ingredients, such as a piece of lettuce, down first to create some padding to prevent crunchier ingredients from tearing your rice paper.   
• Roll firmly enough to prevent tearing while eating, but don't make them so firm that your filling ingredients puncture the rice paper.   
• To keep your healthy spring rolls fresh before serving, cover with a moist dish towel. Don't put rolls in the refrigerator, as the rice paper will harden.
  

Typical ingredients will include shredded carrots, shredded bell pepper, **cucumber strips, picked or fresh ginger, lemongrass, and avocado slices on top.

**If you use cucumber strips, cut your cucumbers into quarters lengthwise, then slice off the inner portion from each quarter to remove the seeds and juicy flesh surrounding the seeds.If you don't remove the seeds and juicy inner pulp, your rolls will get a bit mushy. Use a knife to slice your de-seeded cucumber quarters into thin strips.

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/ss/Howtospringroll.htm
http://drbenkim.com/how-make-healthy-spring-rolls

If you think this is great, try Vegetarian Sushi!

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce with Sesame Oil

Ingredients:

2/3 cup peanut butter
3 T.soy sauce
2 T. Orange Marmilade
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, diced
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (opt.)

Preparation:

In a small saucepan over very low heat, whisk together all ingredients until well combined. Cool and enjoy with your favorite spring roll or egg roll!

Sesame Ginger Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup Sesame Seed Oil
1 t. ginger pulp or ginger powder (fresh is better)
1 t. garlic powder
2 T. Honey
2 T. toasted sesame seeds (opt.)

Spring rolls are a quick, no cook meal and are surprisingly easy to make. Be sure to make a dipping sauce to serve along with your spring rolls! If you need some extra help, see pictures showing how to roll spring rolls.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:

    Spring roll wrappers
    1/2 cup bean sprouts
    1/3 head of green cabbage, chopped
    5 green onions, chopped
    1 cup thin noodles, pre-cooked (use rice, Chinese or bean thread noodles)
    1/4 cup fresh herbs (use cilantro, basil or mint, your choice)
    1/4 cup carrots, grated or julienned
    1 tbsp lime juice
    1 tbsp soy sauce
    1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated (optional)

Preparation:
Toss together all ingredients together except wrappers in large bowl. Submerge spring roll wrappers in hot water until pliable, about 15 seconds. Place about 2 tablespoons of mix on wrapper and wrap your spring rolls. Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts: One spring roll provides approximately: Calories: 81, Calories from Fat: 5
Total Fat: 0.6g, 1%
Cholesterol: 0mg, 0%
Sodium: 192mg, 8%
Total Carbohydrates: 16.1g, 5%
Dietary Fiber: 1.3g, 5%
Protein: 3.3g
Vitamin A 10%, Vitamin C 22%, Calcium 3%, Iron 6%, Based on a 2000 calorie diet
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/ThaiSpringRolls.htm

If you enjoy sushi and haven't ventured to make your own, I hope this pictorial encourages you to give it a try. It's a lot easier than you might imagine, and the cost is minimal compared to buying sushi at a store or restaurant.

Called kim bap in Korea, sushi comes in countless varieties. Once you learn how to make a basic sushi roll, it's a snap to churn out all sorts of creations to suit varying tastes and settings.

To make your own sushi rolls, you'll need a sushi rolling mat. You can find this type of bamboo sushi rolling mat at most Asian foods stores, or at Amazon.

You'll also need sheets of roasted seaweed, which are readily available at Korean and other Asian grocery stores. You're looking for unsalted, roasted nori seaweed. If you go searching for this at your local Korean market, you can ask for "kim that's used to make kim bap." Kim means seaweed, and bap means rice. The "k" in kim sounds like "ghee."

To make a basic vegetable sushi roll, preparing your vegetables into thin strips. Carrots, avocados and asparagus are great, along with, spinach cucumbers and other fresh vegetables.

Time to prepare the rice. It's best to use sushi rice, which is typically called "calrose" rice. Put about three cups of cooked sushi rice in a large casserole dish or mixing bowl. Add a full tablespoon of sesame oil, a couple of pinches of sea salt, and mix well.

To minimize mess, we like to place our sushi rolling mat on a cutting board before we do any rolling.

Center a sheet of seaweed on your rolling mat. By the way, if you don't have a rolling mat, you can always use a sheet of saran wrap instead, though a bamboo mat definitely makes for an easier job of sushi rolling.

Along with your seaweed sheet, rice, and vegetables, have ready a small bowl of water. Dip clean fingertips into the bowl of water, then use your hands to spread a layer of rice on your sheet of seaweed.

Please note that this is no easy task. The rice is naturally sticky, and though the water on your fingers will help you spread the rice out, go into this step knowing that even those who roll sushi for a living acknowledge that this can be a frustrating task.

For comfort, keep in mind that it doesn't really matter if things don't look great at this point, as once your sushi is rolled up and cut into bite-size rounds, it'll all look beautiful.

Now layer your vegetables on top of the rice.

Please note the amount of seaweed space that remains to the right and left of the rice and vegetables - this is necessary space for proper rolling, so be sure not to use more rice than necessary.

Slowly and gently lift up the side of the bamboo mat that's closest to you, the side where the rice comes up close to the edge of the seaweed sheet.

And roll all the way over so that under the bamboo mat, there lies a fully draped roll of sushi.

Use your hands to firmly shape the sushi roll that's taking form within the bamboo mat - you want to somewhat knead/massage the bamboo roll to coax the seaweed, vegetables, and rice within to become the cyclindrical roll that it's meant to be.

Now use a fingertip to gently slide a line of water at the far end of your sheet of seaweed - this water will serve as the glue that will keep your sushi roll intact.

Now unroll the mat, use your hands to roll the partially finished sushi roll over until it's fully wrapped and sealed with the thin film of water, then roll one more time with your bamboo mat and gently knead again to encourage it to keep form.

It's generally best to make all of your rolls and have them sit as a little gathering of sushi rolls before you serve them up.

Before slicing into bite-size rounds, use the pads of your fingers to moisten both sides of your knife. This will help you make clean cuts, where the seaweed and rice don't get too messy and stick to your knife.

It's always nice to serve sushi up with some fresh vegetables on the side. Use whatever you have on hand.

Keep in mind that you don't have to cut all of your sushi rolls into the same size rounds. You can leave some as miniature logs that can be eaten as wraps. If you're making sushi for a picnic lunch or just for when you're on the go, you can leave them as big rolls and eat them just as you would eat wraps or burritos - just store them in an air-tight container while traveling.

If you'd like a dipping sauce, combine soy sauce with just a few drops of sesame oil and lemon juice.

http://drbenkim.com/how-to-make-sushi.htm

Ingredients
3 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 T. Yeast
1 T. Sea Salt
1 T. Unrefined Sugar or Honey
1 1/2 C. Warm Water (give or take depending of moisture content in flour)
1 T. Olive Oil

This recipe is so easy, it's hard to mess up!! In a mixing bowl, add flour, yeast, sea salt and sugar and stir to incorporate. Add warm water and stir until dough forms a ball and all dry ingredients are incorporated. Flour your kneading space with a little flour, take dough out of bowl and knead for about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed to keep from sticking. Return dough to bowl and cover with towel, raising for about 45 minutes-1hr.

Spread olive oil onto kneading surface, take dough out of bowl and again knead for 5 minutes and put into oiled loaf pan (or shape into a round loaf on oiled cookie sheet). Place in cold oven for about 20 minutes. Turn oven on at 450 degrees and bake for about 10-15 minutes, turn down to 350 and bake for another 20 or until brown. Loaf should be hollow sounding when tapped.

Happy Eating!!

2 cups blanched almond flour
3/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt
2 tablespoons of seasoning of your choice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and seasoning
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil and water
3. Stir wet ingredients into almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined
4. Roll the dough into a ball and press between 2 sheets of parchment paper to ⅛ inch thickness
5. Remove top piece of parchment paper
6. Transfer the bottom piece with rolled out dough onto baking sheet
7. Cut dough into 2-inch squares with a knife or pizza cutter
8. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes, until lightly golden
9. Let crackers cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes, then serve

Ingredients:

4 ripe bananas
2 cups almond milk
1/3 cup chopped dates
1 T. Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons almond butter
cardamom to taste

Combine in a food processor until creamy smooth then pour in the containers you want to serve it in. Chill until set. Top with extra banana slices, spiced pecans, or just an extra dash of cardamom to taste.