Baked Vegetable Spring Rolls
Spring rolls, whatever they are filled with, whether they are fresh or cooked, you can be sure that I will be eating them. I don't have a favorite because I love every single one of them. There are the savory ones filled with meat, fish or vegetables with different kinds of dipping sauces and the sweet kinds for dessert that are filled with bananas. And just by writing about them makes me want to wander to the kitchen and make myself a batch of these delicious Asian treats.
Born in Asia, these delicious rolls have evolved into different kinds with diverse fillings and you can find them all over the world now. Practically, there is no rule as to what you can put inside. As long as they are delicious and you like them, then the spring rolls should rock! I actually grew up with the classic ones that are fried meat spring rolls, sometimes with a single shrimp inside, sometimes without then dipped with sweet and sour sauce or vinegar dip. Whoever cooks it and whatever version the recipe is, it is always a winner for me. Another kind I love are the fresh vegetable spring rolls with peanut sauce. They are absolutely great but they are a tad less popular than the fried meat rolls. And this reminds me, now that I am going to the Philippines this summer, maybe I can share recipes of both. The ingredients will be much easier to find there.
With this recipe, I am sharing a modified version from the original versions.
Instead of being fried, they are baked and instead of the usual rice
paper wrapper, I used phyllo sheets which are more accessible to the
ones living outside Asia, including me. To get good rice paper, I have
to get them from the Asian market in Rome. I am thinking that most of us
have the same problem. Phyllo instead, is available in all the supermarkets.
Since phyllo sheets are very thin, work on 2 sheets together to wrap the vegetables. With rice paper, you only need one. Having eaten the classic fried spring rolls most of my life, I was reluctant to try baking them and using another kind of wrapper. Instead, I think this is a great modified version and it's equally delicious too because what you really taste in the good spring rolls are the fillings and the crunch of the wrapper.
Being baked and filled with vegetables and matched with a homemade sauce, these spring rolls are very healthy. The wonderful Asian flavors are still there and they are not greasy and heavy as the original ones in Asia. So give this Baked Vegetable Spring Rolls recipe a try and enjoy them without feeling queasy about the oil. You can find the recipe at Skinny Ms. where I make healthy recipes in tune with their healthy living.
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