Vegan Spring Rolls. Reprinted with permission from Garden to Table Cookbook by Kayla Butts. Published by Fox Chapel Publishing, 2023
Tis the season for getting back out in the garden … Whether you are a pro or finally have time to start a vegetable garden, the rewards are healthy food (of course) plus an opportunity to exercise and relax in your outdoor hobby, thereby improving mental wellness. To say nothing of which, the feeling of accomplishment can be enormous!
If you are looking for solid advice on starting or fine-tuning your vegetable garden, author Kayla Butts offers Garden to Table Cookbook: A Guide to Growing, Preserving, and Cooking What You Eat (Fox Chapel Publishing).
“When I began growing and preserving my own food, I truly learned how cultivation and garden-to-table living feeds mind, body, and spirit,” Butts said.
What sets this cookbook apart from others in the home gardening category is how Butts leads you through her health journey, the importance, and benefits of locally sourced and homegrown foods, to helpful tools for your bounty such as preserving, canning, and storage, and recipes for each season.
Butts, a dietician nutritionist, shares her experience of watching her mother recover from epilepsy through a change of diet and her weight loss she attributes to “eating food free of chemicals.”
Here are three recipes we especially like from her book:
Grilled Broccoli with Furikake …
Broccoli takes on a new flavor with Furikake, a mixture of dried fish, seaweed, sesame seeds, and spices. Slice the broccoli into steaks, brush with sesame oil, and season with the sauce.
Berry Dutch Baby …
Is an easy and impressive dessert that uses a similar technique as popovers or Yorkshire pudding. It’s perfect for any of the seasons’ berries.
Vegan Spring Rolls …
Rice paper wrappers filled with crunchy vegetables … cabbage, carrots, jicama, red bell pepper, and spinach, and served with a side of dipping sauce made of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, mirin, brown sugar, and chili paste.
Vegan Spring Rolls
Makes 8 servings
For the spring rolls:
- 1 (7–12 ounce) package rice paper wrappers
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup red cabbage, julienned
- 1/2 cup carrots, julienned
- 1/3 cup jicama, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup Thai basil, julienned
- 1 medium avocado, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
For the dipping sauce:
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili paste
Fill a shallow bowl with water. Organize a large work space with sliced vegetables.
To make the spring rolls, immerse a rice paper wrapper in the water and let it soak for 15–20 seconds, until it is malleable. Spread the wrapper flat on your work surface. Starting on the side closest to you, add a small pile of each of the vegetables and herbs about 1/2 to 1 inch from the bottom of the wrapper.
Fold the edge of the wrapper over the vegetables, fold the sides in as if you were making an envelope, and continue to roll until the wrapper has formed a cylinder. Repeat until you have no ingredients remaining.
To make the dipping sauce, in a small bowl, combine the ingredients and mix until a cohesive sauce is formed. Spring rolls are best enjoyed fresh, with a side of dipping sauce.
