Pad Thai Wraps / Rolls

It's not common for my husband to like healthy food.... (like salads and soups) but I have to admit that he has come a long way and now eats broccoli, tofu and a whole lot of other vegetables that he once refused to even look at.... So I was quite surprised when he complained that I haven't made the summer rolls in a long time - essentially they have a salad of veggies and seasoned tofu wrapped to make a roll.

Wanting something warm for dinner, I decided to twist my usual recipe to make a Pad thai inspired filling... so it's basically a combination of the Pad Thai recipe with the Vietnamese Summer Roll recipe. I sauteed veggies and tofu and added in a splash of the tangy, sweet pad thai sauce & added in some crushed peanuts - we loved it !

PAD THAI WRAPS/ROLLS

Ingredients:

Vietnamese Spring roll wrappers (rice wrappers) - here's a link that shows how to wrap them

Cabbage - 3/4 cup loosely packed shredded into thin, long strips
Carrot - 2 medium, julienned into thin slivers
Mung sprouts - about 2 cups
Tofu puffs - about 8, cut into strips (you could use sauteed tofu too)
Spring Onions - 3 to 5 stalks, chopped
Cucumber - cut into thin strips
Garlic - 3 to 4 cloves, minced
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Sriracha chilli sauce - to season
Roasted Peanuts - 1/3 cup, chopped coarsely
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves/Spring onions - for garnish

For the Sauce:
Tamarind extract - 1 cup (soak tamarind in water and extract juice)
Soy sauce -2 tbsp
Jaggery - about 1 to 2 tbsp (or to taste)
Sriracha chilli sauce - 2 tsp (optional)
Salt - to taste

Method:
1) Heat oil & add garlic, next add the cabbage and carrot and saute with a bit of salt. Add about 1 cup of sprouts and a tsp of soy sauce and some sriracha if you want some extra spice. Remove from the stove while veggies are still tender crisp (so a few minutes in a hot stove should do). Stir in the chopped spring onions and set aside.

2) Make the sauce by simmering together the tamarind juice, soy sauce, sriracha and brown sugar/jaggery till it thickens to a sauce.

3) Heat a tsp of oil and add the tofu puffs with a splash of sriracha and a tsp of water which will allow the tofu puffs to soften a bit and absorb some spicy flavor. Use your favorite seasoning if sriracha is not your thing.

3) Heat some water in a wide, shallow pan (this is to dip the rice roll wrappers) - it should be a more than warm but not boiling hot.

4) Dip the rice roll wrapper (one at a time) and once it softens (takes about a minute or lesser) lay it out on a flat surface and it's time to make the rolls - in one corner, put the sauteed veggies, top them with some fresh sprouts, cucumber, tofu, peanuts and coriander leaves, drizzle some of the tamarind sauce and a bit of sriracha - roll it like you would a burrito (refer to this link for more detailed pictures). Serve with the tamarind based pad thai sauce for dipping and enjoy.