Vegetarian rice paper rolls

These Vietnamese vegetarian rice paper rolls are full of fresh flavours and taste amazing. Making them at home is so easy and you can tailor them to your audience by adjusting the fillings. If you want to leave a couple of ingredients out for fussy tastebuds it’s no issue with rice paper rolls.

Rice paper rolls are extremely versatile and whilst this recipe is for vegetarian rice paper rolls they be made with whatever fresh ingredients you have on hand. Other variations, which Brooke has made in the past, include chicken rice paper rolls and prawn rice paper rolls.

Rice paper rolls are easy to prepare once you have mastered the tuck and roll technique to wrap them ready to eat. There is a bit of pre-prep to get all your ingredients slice ready for the production line, but once that is done it’s just a matter of rolling these tasty little pastels ready to go. The trick to the best tasting rice paper rolls is to serve immediately after preparation, as the rice paper can dry out if left too long, and cause them to stick to one another.

Not only are these vegetarian rice paper rolls healthy, they’re also incredibly varied in taste and texture! The filling consist of creamy avocado, crunchy carrots and cucumbers, silky vermicelli noodles, spicy Sriracha tofu, fresh spring onion, chives, mint and coriander tossed in for that classic Vietnamese flavour (add fresh chilli for good measure if your that way inclined also!). Top it all off by serving with a combo of hoisin sauce and satay sauce and you have an incredibly easy-to-make, fresh, vegetarian recipe which is absolutely delicious.

These light rice paper rolls are packed with goodness so if you’re looking to whip up a quick, inexpensive and yummy meal for yourself, friends, and family these are definitely the way to go.

If you like this recipe – then check out our other recipes for stuffed mushrooms or vegetarian savoury muffins

Vegetarian rice paper rolls ingredientsTofu vegetarian rice paper rollsFried tofu vegetarian rice paper rollsSriracha tofu vegetarian rice paper rollsVietnamese Vegetarian rice paper rollsVegan rice paper rollsVietnamese vegetarian rice paper rolls

Tofu vegetarian rice paper rolls recipe instructions

Vegetarian rice paper rolls
 
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Vegetarian rice paper rolls consist of creamy avocado, crunchy carrots and cucumbers, silky vermicelli noodles, spicy Sriracha tofu, fresh spring onion, chives and mint and coriander tossed in for that classic Vietnamese flavour.
Author:
Recipe type: Vegetarian
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
  • 1 large avocado, cut into slices
  • Spring onions, cleaned and cut into matchsticks
  • Fresh herbs (chives, coriander or mint)
  • 1 ounce cooked rice noodles/rice vermicelli (optional)
  • Rice paper wrappers
  • Fried tofu, sliced
  • 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp rice flour
  • Vegetable oil
Instructions
  1. Combine Sriracha sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
  2. Preheat a large fry pan over medium heat. Toss tofu in 2 Tbsp rice flour and cook in vegetable oil, cooking until golden brown. Turn the heat down and add Sriracha sauce mixture to the pan coating the tofu in the sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes until the sauce is sticky and covering all the tofu. Remove and set aside.
  3. Cook the dried vermicelli noodles to packet instructions. Drain and cool.
  4. Once your vegetables are prepped and you’re ready to assemble the rolls, fill a shallow dish with warm water.
  5. Dip one rice paper wrapper into the water for thirty seconds, remove and place on a clean flat surface.
  6. Place a couple of tofu pieces along a third of the wrapper. Top with noodles, and a couple of slices of cucumber, carrot, spring onion, avocado and a few herbs. Fold in the sides of rice paper. Then roll from the bottom up, tucking into a tight spring roll shape. (Most rice paper packaging will have directions).
  7. Repeat with the remaining rice paper wrappers and filling.
  8. Serve the spring rolls whole, or sliced in half with a nice dipping sauce.

 

Roasted pumpkin and feta salad

As regular readers of the blog would know, a salad is a rare sighting around these parts. Now it’s not that we don’t make a lot of salads, more the fact that wise man once said “you don’t win friends with salad”. Whilst salads in many instances can become merely a garnish to the main event, this roasted pumpkin and feta salad is certainly an exception. Roasted pumpkin and feta are just two of the star players, which are joined by beetroot (an Australian favourite) and avocado and also fresh baby spinach leaves.

This roasted pumpkin and feta salad is our go-to salad recipe for BBQ catch-ups and family gatherings when asked to bring a salad. Always a crowd pleaser it’s both quick and easy, which is perfect when your ready to get your party pants on.

While a salad is a rare sighting on the blog there are a couple of other salads if your on the hook to bring more than one to an event, this apricot and couscous salad is a great option as is our simple potato salad.

Roasted pumpkin and feta saladRoasted pumpkin and feta salad

Roasted Pumpkin and Danish Feta Salad – Recipe Instructions

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Roasted pumpkin and feta salad
 
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Roasted pumpkin and feta are just two of the star players, which are joined by beetroot (an Australian favourite) and avocado and also fresh baby spinach leaves.
Author:
Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: Australian
Serves: 6 serves
Ingredients
  • 300g baby spinach leaves
  • 1 avocado
  • 125g danish feta
  • 5 baby beetroots quatered
  • 400g butternut pumpkin
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 220C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
  2. Place the pumpkin in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil. Season with fresh garlic salt and pepper. Gently toss until the pumpkin is well coated. Place in a single layer on the lined tray. Bake, turning once during cooking, for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside for 30 minutes to cool.
  3. Place the spinach on a large serving dish add the avocado. Gently toss until just combined. Add the pumpkin and beetroot and gently until just combined, finishing with a layer of Danish feta.
  4. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to serve.

 

Pulled Pork Tacos

After Brooke’s recent purchase of a slow cooker, she was determined to make anything that meant she got to use it. With my subtle suggestion of pulled pork, it was a done deal and we were having pulled pork tacos for a late lunch!

There are many variations to pulled pork and we may have gone down a more southern style, but it still worked in taco’s given the various spices this recipe uses.

If you are willing to wait for the meat to cook, this recipe really is one of the easiest things to make – and with the slow cooker makes it even easier! We bought all the ingredients the night before so we could make the pork first thing in the morning. To start you need to make a simple spice rub, and a BBQ sauce (both require similar ingredients). Once you have made your spice rub, simply roll the meat in the rub and place it in the cooker with half the BBQ sauce. We wanted the pork ready in time for a late lunch, so cooked the pork on a higher temperature for a shorter time (still a solid 5 hours).

The beauty of the slow cooker is you can leave the meat to cook, while you can leave the house. While the pork cooked, we headed off to the markets for some fresh ingredients to top off our pulled pork tacos.

When we returned, the house was full of of delicious aromas and the meat was perfectly cooked. All that was left to do was simply pull the pork apart (which really just fell apart it was so tender), and dress with the remaining sauce.

We served our pork with tortillas, fresh avocado, tomato, onion, coriander and sour cream. This is definitely a recipe I will be wanting again! Yummo!

If your looking for other Mexican recipes to accompany the pulled pork tacos then check out our simple guacamole recipe or tomato salsa recipe.

Spice Rub and BBQ Sauce IngredientsPork Spice RubPork Spice Rub and BBQ SaucePulled Pork TacosPulled Pork Tacos

Pulled pork tacos – Recipe Instructions

5.0 from 3 reviews
Pulled Pork Tacos
 
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Pulled pork tacos with fresh avocado, tomato, onion, coriander and sour cream.
Author:
Recipe type: Pork
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 6
Ingredients
BBQ Sauce
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
  • ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
Spice Rub
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne
  • 1.5 Kgs boneless pork shoulder or loin, excess fat trimmed
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. For the BBQ sauce: Combine the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire, cayenne, red pepper flakes and salt and black pepper in a small bowl.
  2. For the spice rub: Combine the paprika, oregano, black pepper, brown sugar, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl and toss with your fingers to mix. Rub the spice mixture onto the pork on all sides.
  3. Place the pork in a slow cooker insert. Add ½ cup BBQ sauce and cover the slow cooker. Cook on high until the pork is fork-tender, 4 to 5 hours, or on low, 8 to 10 hours. Transfer the pork to a carving board. Let the pork stand, about 5 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile add 2 tablespoons of the simmering pork liquids to the remaining BBQ sauce. Bring the BBQ sauce to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat, about 10 minutes.
  5. Using two forks, shred the pork and discard any excess fat. Heap the pork onto the buns and top with extra BBQ sauce.

 

Simple Guacamole Recipe

So here it is… the first ever post on Grab Your Spork. It was a tough decision what our first recipe should be, but we decided that it might be best to start with something easy. Brooke and I like many variations of guacamole, but this simple guacamole recipe is one of our favourites.

Avocados are grown in the South-West part of Western Australia where we live . It’s great when they are in season as we can get some awesome quality avocados at our local farmers markets here in Perth.

This simple guacamole recipe was made with perfectly ripe avocados mixed with fresh chilli, coriander, onion and lime. Guacamole should be made just before serving (where possible) to maintain it’s vibrant colour.

The key to the perfect guacamole recipe is ripe avocados. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. If there is no give, the avocado is not ripe yet and will not taste good. If there is a little give, the avocado is ripe. If there is a lot of give, the avocado may be overripe and not good. In this case, taste test first before using.

If your looking for something to pair with this simple guacamole recipe, then try our tomato salsa recipe.

Simple Guacamole Recipe IngredientsSimple Guacamole Recipe IngredientsSimple Guacamole RecipeSimple Guacamole Recipe with Corn Chips

Simple Guacamole Recipe – Instructions

5.0 from 3 reviews
Simple Guacamole Recipe
 
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This simple guacamole was made with perfectly ripe avocados mixed with fresh chilli, coriander, onion, tomato and lime. Guacamole should be made just before serving where possible so as maintain it's vibrance.
Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 3 large ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • ½ jalapeño, seeded and diced
  • ½ large red onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3 tbs. coriander (cilantro) leaves
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Tabasco to taste (Add as much heat as you like)
Instructions
  1. Scoop avocado into a bowl.
  2. Mash with a fork until you have a smooth, chunky texture.
  3. Add lime juice, jalapeño, onion, garlic, coriander (cilantro) leaves, salt and mix gently.
  4. Eat until your heart is content.