Several months back Hubbs brought home a pack of rice paper rolls. It was completely random and I just thought, “When am I ever going to use these?“. I put them on the lower rack of my pantry and forgot about them…
Then, all over pinterest I kept seeing all these rice paper roll recipes. Seriously, EVERYWHERE! So I figured that if that many people are making these sommer rolls then obviously it must taste decent, right? I decided to give it a whirl.
It definitely takes a couple of tries to figure out what kind of ingredients work well inside and how to roll the rice paper without tearing it. The good thing about these is that even if your rolling skills aren’t perfect you can still eat them! Now that would be a horrible invention…rice paper that only tastes OK if rolled perfectly. Thank goodness it’s not like that!
Being vegan you can’t just ignore the fact that you still need to get enough iron and protein. That’s why red lentils are one of my favorite ingredients. These little suckers are packed with lots of healthy iron, protein, and a ton of fiber. You know…that stuff that keeps things running smoothly ;)
Plus red lentils are one of the quickest lentils to cook. Done in 7 minutes. Bam!
Oh right, back to these lentil sommer rolls. I doubt the Vietnamese put lentils into their sommer rolls. Correct me if I’m wrong…
Either way, the Vietnamese are brilliant considering these are the ultimate food trifecta. Healthy, easy to make, and incredibly delicious!
All you’ll need to do is gather your ingredients. You don’t want to use anything too big or bulky as the rice paper will tear fairly easily. I used lentils, carrots, bell peppers, and lettuce for these.
Soak your rice paper in some water. Depending on the temperature of your water it will take anywhere from 10-30 seconds.
Then, add all the ingredients to the bottom edge of the rice paper circle. *Note that photographing rice paper is nearly impossible. It’s see-through so no matter on what kind of surface you place it on, you just can’t….
Then roll it all up!
The only thing that I think scares off most people is not knowing how to roll sommer rolls. It’s basically the same as rolling a burrito just a little bit more delicate. Still frightened? Don’t worry…Mama Ness to your rescue with this super professional looking ‘how to roll spring/sommer rolls guide’ :D
I know you are amazed right now. Ha!
Now that you have that nifty guide there is nothing stopping you from making this. Roll it all up and eat it with your favorite sauces.
Lentil Sommer Rolls
Ingredients
- 5 Rice Papers or 10 for easier rolling
- 1/2 of a cup Uncooked Red Lentils cooked for 7 minutes in boiling water
- 1 Carrot julienned
- 1/2 of a Red Bell Pepper julienned
- 1 cup Lettuce of choice I used baby chard
- Peanut Sauce or Sriracha Sauce for dipping
Instructions
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Soak one rich paper (or 2 on top of each other for easier rolling) with lukewarm water in a shallow dish or plate. Soak for roughly 30 seconds until rice paper becomes slimy. Carefully place on a clean plate or cutting board.
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Add roughly 2 heaping tablespoons of red lentils, 5 carrot slices, 5 bell pepper slices, and a small handful of lettuce to the bottom edge of the rice paper circle. Gently but tightly roll up the spring rolls up the way you would a burrito. (Check step by step rolling directions above.) Repeat steps until all ingredients or rice papers are used up.
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Serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauces.
Recipe Notes
1) Loosely adapted from Crazy Vegan Kitchen's [Vegan Rice Paper Rolls]2) If you are new to making rice paper rolls then I suggest you use 2 rice papers on top of each other. They rice paper rolls won't break as easily. It's also great if you are making these for kids to double to papers as well. This allows kids to hold on to them easier without them falling apart of tearing.3) There are a couple of different ways to soak your rice paper. The way described above is how I like to do. It takes a bit of experimenting until you find the way that works best for you. Others like to soak their rice paper in hot water for a few seconds. I find that my rice paper tears to easily when done that way.
Here are some other tasty dishes you might enjoy :)
Why did I never think of putting lentils in spring rolls before?! This is genius! Definitely pinning :)
Oh this looks so delicious, Vanessa! What a great idea! Lentils are one of my favorites and I can’t wait to try your recipe. :-)
Looks really good! Love the how-to-roll diagram. :)
RED LENTILS ARE MY FAVE <3 I love them and make them all the darn time! You are right, they are such an easy and healthy staple to whip up. I've never had them in spring rolls like this, I will be making these :)
Wow! What a great idea! I love spring rolls although I’ve never attempted to make them myself. I think I should try yours as I just love lentils.
Love the tutorial for folding! These are beautiful and I love the addition of red lentils! Yum!
These look gorgeous! I didn’t know that these orange lentils which is very common in Pakistani/Indian cuisine and we make curry with it, can be used in the spring rolls as well! Amazing! :)
Thanks for sharing! :)
I love spring rolls! They are such a great way to get loads of veggies in! Never had lentils in them but I love lentils!
This is exactly my kind of meal. It looks absolutely delicious! The peanut sauce would be perfect for me.
ahhhh I have not had spring rolls in so long! these look delicious! ;-)
I love colours of this recipe!
I totally LOLed at the spring rolls that only taste good if you roll them right, that would be horrible!!! Mine would taste bad every darn time then :D hahaha Your rolling guide is super well done, I’m going to have to refer people to it whenever I post spring roll recipes from now on because trying to describe it in words is just a disaster! Gotta love the lentils! Untraditional, but sounds SO good!
The chard and the lentils both make these so much heartier…and they are so pretty to look at, no one can refuse these!!
Totally love this post! You are a genius! Thanks! 💙💚💕💚💙
What a great idea to put lentils in spring rolls! I’ve actually got some cooking in a soup right now. They’re so good, aren’t they?!!
(Btw can you delete my last comment? My phone was glitchy and I think I gave your recipe a bad star rating. I’m sorry!)