Sweet chili lentil salad spring rolls

 

It’s officially spring, so I thought I’d try spring rolls for lunch.

Sweet chili lentil salad rolls

Adapted from lentils.org

Ingredients

1½ cups cooked lentils* (green if you can find them)

6 tablespoons sweet chili sauce, divided

8 spring roll rice paper wrappers

2½ cups arugula

1 cup grated carrot (I used a mix of grated yellow carrot and julienned orange carrots)

1 cup finely sliced purple cabbage

Method

Combine cooked lentils with 4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

To prepare rice paper wrappers, pour warm water into a large bowl. Dip rice paper wrappers, one at a time, into the water until they are soft, flexibile but still firm enough for structural integrity. (This happens quite quickly, so don’t wander away, and make sure to get all your filling ingredients out ready to go before you start.) Dry with paper towels and place on a flat work surface.

To fill rolls, start with a layer of arugula, then a scant 3 tablespoons of the lentils. Top with a sprinkling of carrot and cabbage and then a few more arugula leaves. Don't overfill them or you'll have something too messy to eat and not rollable.

Form wraps like a burrito: Fold up the bottom of the roll, then fold left and right sides in, and then roll up.

The drill: If you’re serving them on a plate at home, cut rolls in half and serve with remaining sweet chili sauce. If you’re taking them for lunch, I recommend leaving them whole, since otherwise you’ve got a big mess on your hands, quite literally. Transport the additional chili sauce separately, and bring a fork. 

Rating: Tasty, and surprisingly filling. The recipe figures 8 servings, with each spring roll being a serving at 120 calories. If you’re taking other enough other food along with it, it might cut it.If I was packing this for Dave, I'd include two per serving.

*To cook lentils: Combine ½ cup lentils and 2 cups liquid. If you’re just using water, add ½ teaspoon of salt. Bring liquid and lentils to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 30 minutes until tender but not mushy; you’re using these in a salad, not a soup. Drain well. (Green lentils are more flavorful, but can be harder to find; the sort of olive brownish ones needs a bit more love to be tasty. I recommend cooking them in broth or some other liquid with flavor, such as liquid leftover from a jar of roasted red peppers, maybe a tad of pickling brine or that sort of thing. Adding a sprig of herbs or a chunk of onion to the cooking water helps too.)