Modern Day Crudites

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were away with 20 friends and family for the holiday weekend—and there was plenty of cooking, eating and celebrating going on.

For an hors d’oeuvres one night, to update a classic, I decided to make crudites summer rolls. Rice paper is a great ingredient to keep in the house for an easy, but impressive starter.

Crudites Summer Rolls

• Rice paper
• Vegetables (this time I used cucumber, bell pepper and avocado. Other ingredients that I have used are Tofu, basil, carrots and scallions.)
• Baby spinach
• Soy sauce
• Rice wine vinegar
• Sesame oil

Julienne the vegetables (cut into long strips). Fill a shallow bowl or pot with about 1/2 inch of water.

I always set up an assembly line for the RUP (roll-up phase).  Keep all the julienned vegetables next to the bowl with water, with 2 plates, one to roll-up the rolls, and one to put the rolled-up rolls on. Dip a sheet of rice paper into the water for 20-30 seconds, or until it just becomes malleable, then remove and put on a plate. (If you keep it in the water too long, it will become too soft and fragile to work with.) Place a few pieces of each vegetable into the rice paper. Fold up the bottom of the rice paper over the vegetables, then fold in the sides, and roll it up. Place on a plate while you make the others, and by the time they are all rolled up, the paper will have soaked up the extra water, and they will be soft and translucent. Cut in half and arrange on a platter. I serve with a simple dipping sauce of 1 part each soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil, with sriracha mixed in.

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