Summer Roll Can Be From Any Salad
There is something very nice about a summer bun. While I love a good egg roll, spring roll, or any other fried pack of rolled food, the lighter, cooler, and more chewy summer roll is the one I crave the most, especially in these sweat months.
A few weeks ago I had dinner with Lifehacker editor-in-chief and renowned punisher Virginia Smith, and we both ordered a serving of Vietnamese summer rolls because we are both very good at food. “Why doesn’t it happen in these wrappers anymore?” we thought, hiding the peanut sauce dripping from our exquisite mouths. “Why are ALL salads not in rolls?”
Indeed, why? Wrapping a mixture of crispy vegetables, proteins and fats – also known as “salad” in soft and chewy rice film is a fantastic idea for several reasons. First of all, you can arrange all the ingredients of said salad so that they are evenly distributed so that you get a little bit of everything with each bite. Instead of pouring the dressing over the salad, you can simply dip it, which gives you complete control. Finally, no utensils are needed, making these portable beauties the perfect packed lunch box.
Since I love blue cheese and kitsch, I always love wedge salad. It is, however, a little cumbersome, does not serve well in a large bowl , and is nearly impossible to pack. By wrapping its various ingredients in a rice wrapper, it became much easier for me to keep it in my mouth. Obviously, you are not limited to just a wedge – the second option is Greek salad – but if you still want to make wedge buns, you will need:
- Vietnamese Filled Rice Roll Wrappers (I like the six-inch ones)
- Chopped iceberg lettuce
- Bacon strips, cut in half, cooked, dried and chilled
- Crumbled blue cheese
- Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- Red onion slices, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
- Dressiv with blue cheese
- Garlic
- Bowl of warm water
Prepare everything completely and place the ingredients in the order in which you want to put them on the roll. Dip one dried rice wrapper in warm water and let it soak until pliable. Spread out the wrapper and fill it with the ingredients, leaving some space at the top and bottom. There are several different ways to fold the wrapper , but I just follow the directions on the package. Fold the top and bottom ends right over the ingredients, fold one side half over the top of this, then fold the whole thing up tightly (but carefully). (The first few are likely to be ugly, but still tasty.)
Serve with your chosen dressing – in this case blue cheese sprinkled with garlic – dip and enjoy.