As much as I love to cook – I still get intimidated by several techniques and ingredients. For some reason, I’ve had a fear of trying to make fresh spring rolls ever since I had one (so five years?)! The idea of working with the rice noodles and wrappers just seemed daunting. But, after some coaching from friends and internet research, I dove into the task this Saturday. It was the perfect exercise for a quiet night in and my brave neighbors came over to be guinea pigs and even brought wine (Mendenhall ain’t bad!).

It was actually much easier than I thought and I got the swing of it after a few messy ones. I’ll surely be making them again — and testing other combinations of ingredients!

Fresh Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

• Rice paper wrappers
• vermicelli rice noodles
• cooked shrimp, sliced horizonally
• fresh mint leaves
• fresh cilantro leaves
• fresh thai basil leaves
• lettuce
• hoisin sauce

Assembly: Boil rice noodles for 4 or 5 minutes until al dente. Rinse the noodles in cold water and drain wel. Place wrapper into warm water for a couple of seconds (you have to do this one by one). Layer shrimp, herbs, noodles and lettuce on top of the wraps. Roll up tightly – like a burrito. Serve with hoisin sauce for dipping.