Vietnamese Summer Rolls

By Diane DiMeo

2 Servings

Ingredients for the filling:

1. 1/2 cup roasted chicken breast, shredded. This can be your leftover whole roasted chicken from the night before.
2. 1 cup cooked rice sticks
3. 4 red leaf lettuce leaves, washed and dried, ribs removed
4. 6 basil or mint leaves
5. 6 rice paper sheets (2 are for practice)
6. 1 large pan 1/2 filled with hot water

Ingredients for peanut sauce:

1. 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
2. 1/2 cup water
3. 3 tbsp sugar
4. 1 tbsp fish sauce
5. 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Put all of the peanut sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan and let simmer over low heat for 5 to 8 minutes. Add more water if needed.
2. Place the summer roll ingredients in a line, in this order: rice paper sheets, hot water, lettuce leaves, chicken, noodles, basil or mint
3. Get a kitchen towel, and dampen it, and place in front of your ingredient line.
4. Take one of the rice sheets, and completely submerge it in the hot water. Remove it after counting to three. Place it on the damp towel. About 1/4 inch from the bottom of the circle/ rice sheet, place a lettuce leaf down, leaving space on the sides. Add some chicken on top of that, then some noodles, and some basil or mint leaves. Carefully roll upward, and bring the sides in, and continue to roll, doing the tuck and roll method, until it’s all rolled up. This will take some practice! Continue for the remaining rolls.
5. Put the peanut sauce into two small containers, and on two individual plates, place a sauce and two rolls.