I may never order Vietnamese spring rolls in a restaurant again. I’m serious.  Why bother?  There are dishes that belong to the “That’s too intimidating to make at home” category; others fall into, “This isn’t so hard, but mine sure doesn’t taste like the restaurant version.”  Spring rolls occupy a third category, known as “Wow, these are incredibly simple to prepare, AND they’re just as good as anything in a restaurant!”  These are the dishes to make on a weeknight.

The beauty of the spring rolls is that they’re conducive to both creativity and practicality. What have you got in your fridge?  It’ll work.  Throw it in.

The only thing I had to buy were the wrappers.

Everything else came straight out of the fridge: tofu (sliced and pan-fried until browned), lettuce, cucumber, bell pepper and mint (not something I always have on hand, but I had some from another dish).

You dip the wrappers in warm water for a few seconds until soft. I recommend layering two wrappers per spring roll; one is too thin.

Lay your ingredients inside the wrappers, fold up the edges, and roll like a burrito.

I whipped up a dipping sauce of hoisin sauce, almond butter, garlic, rice vinegar, water and sriracha.

And that was it — the spring rolls were ready to be eaten.

Fresh, bright, healthy and chock full of interesting textures.  And really, you can use anything — shrimp, pork, vermicelli noodles, cilantro, other veggies… whatever you’ve got.  It’s up to you.

I never imagined that Vietnamese spring rolls would join the regular summer dinner rotation, but it’s official: they’re in.