Spring Rolls

My mind is totally concentrating on training for this Brooklyn half marathon and I haven't been cooking as much. I've also mostly eaten raw foods lately and I've done alot of eating out because I need to grocery shop (I never eat out as much as when I moved here, it's expensive). Yesterday I went to Candle Cafe for lunch, an upper east side vegan place that was yummy. I also visited Juice Generation this week for a smoothie and I also hit Red Bamboo last week, an all vegan asian restaurant in the West Village. So yum, the vegan scene in NYC is outstanding so if you are visiting, click on my vegan lifestyle link above and check out my list of vegan restaurants in NYC.

These spring rolls are not raw but I will give you a raw version for them. It's getting warmer here in the city so pretty soon I'm not going to feel like cooking! Get ready for more smoothie recipes and lots of raw food to munch on. I love this time of year because of berries coming into season and lots of stores having sales. I'm kind of on a smoothie kick so I want to give you guys some new recipes.

Spring rolls:

6-7 rice spring roll wrappers
1 whole head of organic romaine lettuce
1/2 block of organic firm or extra firm tofu
1 tbsp of raspberry balsamic vinegar
1 bundle of mung bean noodles (glass noodles)
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tbsp of powdered garlic
1 tsp of sea salt
Dijon mustard for dipping (or umeboshi paste)

In a small pan, bring water to boil and cook the glass noodles until they are soft. In a skillet, spray coconut oil and pour in the balsamic vinegar and turn the heat on low. Slice and cube the tofu and add to the skillet. Cut up the romaine lettuce and add the lettuce to the skillet. Add your spices and stir occasionally, keeping the heat on low. Soften the spring roll wrappers by submerging in warm water; do them one at a time. When the veggies and tofu are done, turn off the heat; drain the noodles. Dip a wrapper in warm water, take it out of the water when it's soft and add the veggies, tofu and glass noodles into the wrapper. Fold over the wrapper, roll into a log shape and place on a plate.

Keep softening the wrappers, loading them with the veggies, tofu and noodles and rolling them up until all the ingredients are in the wrappers. Serve with a dipping sauce; I use mustard or umeboshi paste. You can also use organic soy sauce or coconut animo sauce.

For a raw version, cut up romaine lettuce, avocado and carrots and add these ingredients into the wrappers. You can also add cucumber, sweet potato or asparagus. Put any of your favorite veggies into the wrappers, you can even use mango or another sweet fruit. I ate 8 of these spring rolls and I'm stuffed!

On another note, today is 2 years since I'm started Fabulous Vegan Recipes! I had my blog in 2011 but I started seriously blogging in 2013 then I started my facebook page. I'm so thankful for your support and always feel free to leave me a comment or email me feedback. What recipes do you want more of? What is easy about being vegan? Need help transitioning to vegan? I can help you!

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Have a fabulous weekend and Happy Mothers Day to all the mamas! However you are a mother or whoever you're a mother to, have a great day on Sunday :)