Tofu Summer Rolls

Author: Sweet Green Kitchen’s Jen Jones

These summer rolls are so flavorful, light and fresh tasting, perfect for the warm days of Spring and Summer.  They make a great appetizer or party hors d’oeuvres and are perfect as a light lunch or dinner served alongside a nice salad or Asian slaw.

Ingredients:

1 12-ounce package of Extra Firm Tofu – drained and pressed

1 Avocado – thinly sliced

1 Mango – thinly sliced

Fresh Mint leaves

Baby Arugula

Rice Paper a.k.a. Spring Roll Wrappers

Flaked Sea Salt (or other Salt)

Miso Marinade/Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

 1 Tablespoon White Miso

1 Tablespoon lite Soy Sauce or Wheat Free Tamari (to make it gluten free)

2 Tablespoons Apple Cider or Rice Vinegar (or 1 Tablespoon of each)

2 teaspoons Honey, Agave or Maple Syrup (Agave or Maple to make it Vegan)

1/4 teaspoon (more or less to taste) Sriracha Sauce

1 Tablespoon Olive or Sesame Oil

 Alternate (Miso Cashew) Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Cashew Butter (Almond or Peanut Butter would also be good)

1 Tablespoon White Miso

1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

2 teaspoons Honey or Agave Syrup

1 teaspoon lite Soy Sauce or Tamari

1 teaspoon Water

1/4 teaspoon (more or less to taste) Sriracha Sauce

A sprinkling of white or black Sesame Seeds – optional

Directions:

Starting with drained and pressed Tofu, slice the Tofu block into approximately 8 even slices and the then halve each slice lengthwise, leaving you with about 16 strips.  Season lightly with salt.

Meanwhile heat a large non stick pan and drizzle a bit of oil (I use olive, canola or coconut oil).

Saute each piece of Tofu over a medium to high flame, adjusting temperature as needed, until golden brown on both sides.  Beware of splatters when cooking.

Whilst cooking the tofu, prepare the Miso Marinade.  Add the cooked Tofu to the Marinade and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to a few hours or even overnight.  Refrigerating the cooked tofu allows the texture to firm up and also gives it time to absorb the flavors of the marinade.

To make the Summer Rolls:

Fill a pie dish or other similarly sized bowl with warm water.  Working one at a time, soak 1 Rice Paper wrapper in the water until it softens.  Beware, if you’ve never worked with rice paper wrappers before, they are delicate and prone to tearing, but don’t worry about small tears they should still wrap up fine.

On a flat surface, like a cutting board lay out the softened Rice Paper (you can place a paper towel on top of your board if you like to help absorb a bit of extra moisture and prevent it from sticking to your board).

Begin to layer your filling – start with 2 -3 leaves of Mint placed vertically down the center of the rice paper.  Next, line up 2 slices of tofu on top of the Mint, then 2 slices of Mango and 2 slices of Avocado, finishing with a small handful of Arugula and a little sprinkle of flaked Sea Salt.

Now to wrap, if you’ve ever rolled up a burrito this is very much the same.  Start by folding up the ends over the filling, then , fold up one side over all the filling tucking it to make it tight, then roll the whole thing over the last end until it is completely wrapped, tucking as you go to make a nice tight roll.  Using a sharp knife cut the roll in half (I like an angled cut).  Now repeat.

Place the completed rolls on a platter until done and then serve with either the leftover marinade or the miso cashew dipping sauce.  Enjoy!

Recipe Notes:  These rolls take a little pre planning as you need to first cook and marinate the tofu before moving on to make the rolls, if you want to save time, you can use already baked and marinated pre-packaged tofu. 

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Tagged: Avocado, cashew butter, Gluten Free, mango, Mint, miso, Tofu, Vegan