Refreshing Garden Vegetable Rice Wraps
Garlicky Green Goddess Dressing
December 21, 2016
Blueberry Soba Noodle Salad
December 21, 2016
Are you looking for a simple, yet colourful and vibrant appetizer that will impress your guests and allow you to stay on track with your wellness goals? Try making vegetable rice wraps!
These wraps will leave you feeling clean and refreshed! And they are a gluten-free appetizer using ingredients that are easy to find at “mainstream” grocery stores.
To make rice wraps, take a variety of vegetables and either shred them or cut them into match-sticks. Then, assemble the wrap in rice paper, and serve with a dip.
Choosing your wrap ingredients:
1) Shredded or match-stick cut vegetables
• I love using shredded carrots and cucumbers. These are vegetables I tend to have every week in my fridge, and are also vegetables that my kids tend to eat.
• I happened to have a jicama in my pantry so decided to incorporate this into my wrap. Jicama is also known as a Mexican yam, and looks like a turnip. Jicama has the consistency of a water chestnut, and has a mild flavour, adding a starchy crunch to your dish.
• You can also use sliced up bell peppers, shredded beets, and shredded Romaine lettuce.
2) Fresh herbs
• At my local grocery store, they often have fresh bunches of mint. I love the smell of fresh mint. Including fresh mint to your rice wrap gives you that fresh, scrubbed-on-the-inside kind of feeling.
• You could also try other fresh herbs including fresh basil, dill or chives.
3) Protein
• Adding in some kind of protein helps to give your rice wrap some staying power (helping you feel full for longer, also known as satiety!). When you do not include some protein in your meal or snack, you are likely to be foraging through the fridge or cupboards sooner!
• I happened to have a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer so I used shrimp in this recipe.
• Crab, lobster, chicken, and tofu could all be great additions to your rice wrap.
4) Avocado
• Avocado adds a rich buttery creaminess to your rice wrap. This texture is a pleasant contract to the crunchy raw vegetables.
• Once avocados are peeled and exposed to air, they tend to brown quickly, which is why I added in the juice of 1 limes.
Many rice paper wraps also call for cooked vermicelli noodles. You can certainly add those, though I elected to keep them out in this appetizer to keep the focus on the vegetables and a little lower in carbohydrate.
Equipment needed for rice wraps
- Chef’s knife
- Cutting board
- Box grater or food processor with grater attachment
- Large frying pan full of water, heated to a simmer
- Clean but damp tea towel
- Serving platter
Time saver tips
Get all your ingredients and equipment ready.
• To shred your vegetables, you can use a box grater, or the grater attachment on your food processor. If you would rather chop your vegetables into match sticks, you’ll need a sharp knife and a cutting board (This option looks a little nicer, but depending on your level of knife skills, may take longer).
• Before you start assembling your rice wraps, make sure your water is hot so it is quick and easy to “cook” your rice paper.
- Shredded carrots
- Shredded cucumber
- Mint leaves, cut into fine pieces
- Match stick cut jicama
- Cooked shrimp
- Avocado
- Juice of 1 lime
- Package of rice paper wraps (look in the International Foods Aisle)
- Take your rice paper disk, and dip it into the frying pan of hot simmering water for ~10 seconds or until softened. Remove rice wrap with both hands, and place on your working surface.
- On the lower third of the rice wrap (the end that is closest to you), add in small amounts of your wrap filling. I am notorious for adding too much filling to wraps – too much filling can make your wrap harder to work with and messier to eat.
- Take the bottom of the rice wrap (the lower third of the wrap), and fold over the filling, while also tucking in the filling toward you. This helps to keep your rice wrap “tight”. Then, tuck in the sides of the wrap and continue rolling the wrap so that it resembles a spring roll.
- Wrapping rice paper wraps is a skill that gets better with practice. Even when my wraps don't look perfect, people still devour them.
- Place your wrap on your serving platter and cover with a clean damp towel to prevent the wrap from drying out. You can make these ahead of time, and store in your fridge. Even if made ahead of time, I still cover with a damp cloth to prevent the rolls from drying out.
To serve these naturally gluten-free snacks:
• Cut these rice paper wraps in half so you can enjoy your wrap’s vibrant colors. Cutting the rice paper on the bias creates a natural elegance.
• Enjoy with a dip. You can use a peanut sauce or enjoy with this Garlicky Green Goddess Dressing.
• Enjoy as an appetizer, a snack or pack in your lunch.
