Low Fat Spring Rolls

It has to be said that spring rolls are my downfall!

I love Asian food anyway, but getting a delicious crispy, tasty spring roll full of veggie goodness is my absolute favourite. That being said, they're not particularly good for the waistline - as with all things deep fried! So I set out to create a guilt-free version that I could make at home, that would please the kids.

Now this recipe makes large spring rolls, but you could always cut the pastry into four and, using the same method outlined in the recipe, make smaller spring rolls.

You can also use whatever veggies you like, but just make sure they're really thinly sliced. You could also add vermicelli rice noodles - just soak them in boiling water until cooked, then drain and allow to cool before adding to the mix.

Also, we just use a soy sauce dressing, but why not experiment? Lime, ginger and honey with soy sauce would make a good dressing, as would sweet chilli sauce mixed with soy. You don't want the vegetable mixture to be too wet...the dressing needs to be just a dressing to give it some flavour.

Now we talk about spring roll wrappers. Sadly they are not readily available from supermarkets. The Blue Dragon 'spring roll' wrappers are actually the really thin rice paper ones used to make Vietnamese Spring Rolls. You need the more traditional ones that are more like pastry. I use these:

You can find them in all good International or Oriental supermarkets.

Once you've made your filling and allowed it to cool slightly, the spring rolls are easy to make.

Place one or two of the sheets like this, and spoon some mixture onto the sheet.

Fold the bottom corner over the mixture and tuck it under.

Take the two side corners and put them into the middle. Then continue rolling the spring roll up to the top corner. Using some water, secure the top corner to the spring roll. Voila!

Place on an oiled baking sheet then bake.

These are fab, crunchy, healthy snacks to have as an accompaniment to a Chinese meal, or just to have on their own. The kids looooved them!

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