First day of summer, but I like spring [rolls]

*If you follow Allrecipes on Facebook, they do a Meatless Monday recipe of the day and today it was the tofu parmigiana I used a couple of posts ago!

In honor of following along with their theme, today would be perfect to share with you a meatless option. Oddly enough, we go vegetarian probably 2-3 times a weekly without consciously thinking about it. It's more for mother's health than anything. You'll notice I've only made a red meat (steak) once since this blog started up.... looking for the healthy fat/protein, if you will. Enter chicken and fish. And tofu!

This recipe was shared with me through the awesome kids of the Go Green, Eat Smart apprenticeship of Citizen Schools at Bedichek. These kids spent a semester learning about and cooking up vegetarian dishes. I tasted it at their demo and had to make it for myself... and when I did, I made a dinner of it. Yes, honestly.

Spring Rolls

Ingredients:
Thin rice noodles (vermicelli)
Rice spring roll wrappers
1 carrot
Few basil or soft lettuce leaves
Cilantro
1 package Hard texture tofu
Teriyaki sauce

Preparation:
1. Prepare the following sauce:
        1 small clove garlic, crushed
        1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
        1 tbsp peanut butter
        2 tsp lime juice
        1 tsp brown rice syrup
        2 tsp water

        Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl, except the water. Add water as needed for the right consistency.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Open package of tofu and drain excess water. Cut tofu into slices 1/2" to 3/4" thick. Choose a baking pan that fits just the amount of tofu you want to bake in one single layer. Put 2 tbsp of teriyaki sauce in bottom of pan. Place tofu on top and cover with more sauce. Can add a little water so it will not burn. Place pan uncovered in oven. Bake 10 minutes then flip over. Bake additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

4. Cut carrots into thin strips. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch carrots. Wash basil leaves and cilantro and let dry.

5. Cook noodles by immersing in boiling water. Gently separate noodles with tongs or a spoon. They should be done in 3 minutes. Taste to check doneness. Pour noodles into colander and rinse with cold water. Let drain.

6. In a pan large enough for the spring roll wrappers to fit, add warm water. Dip one spring roll wrapper into the water until it softens. It is ready when it is flexible and translucent.

7. Assemble your fillings in front of you. On a flat surface, lay the softened wrapper. Place 1-2 herb leaves first in the center. Place other ingredients such as carrots and tofu on top. Place a small amount of noodles also in center on top of pile.

8. Fold the side of the wrapper closest to you over the filling. Fold in the sides and lastly roll away from you tightly to seal the filling in.

Tine's Notes: For the dipping sauce, I used sugar instead of rice syrup, just a dash will do you. Also, feel free to add additional filling, I added bean sprouts

Thing(s) I learned: Growing up without it, I'm a now a big fan of hard texture tofu. I really do like cilantro.