Mad Hatter Spring Rolls with Sweet Heat Carrot Sauce

“‘Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English)…” —Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 2, by Lewis Carroll

Forgetting how to speak good English is a lovely state when induced by frabjous food, like these spring rolls, whose delightfully bonkers flavor and crunch comes (at least partly) from a bright red, wonky-shaped pepper that appeared this fall at the Glade Road Growing farmstand. 

These treasures need a bath.

Combine the pepper with pickled ginger, mango, and avocado plus a dunk in sriracha carrot sauce, and, voila, “deliciouser and deliciouser.”

Ingredients*

*Makes 5-8 spring rolls depending on wrapper size 1.5-2 cups LAFF protein crumbles 3-4 Mad Hatter peppers (or other sweet pepper) 1 Avocado 1 Mango Pickled ginger Rice wrappers Carrots (scrubbed, coarsely chopped) 1 15.5 oz can cannellini beans 2 Tablespoons sunflower seed butter 2-3 Tablespoons dark brown sugar 2-3 Tablespoons Sriracha 2 Tablespoons water 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Method

Slice Mad Hatter peppers, avocado (peeled, of course), and mango (also peeled) into thin strips about the length of a crayon.

Fresh carrots make a huge difference in the flavor depth.

Make the spring rolls one at a time. Submerge one rice wrapper into lukewarm water. Take it out when it’s just starting to soften—perhaps 5-10 seconds. Now is the time for deftness: Layer your fillings in the bottom third of the wrapper. Fold the side edges inward (like you’re swaddling a baby), then roll the wrapper from bottom to top. Place the spring roll on a cookie rack to dry.

To make the sauce, blend the following in a food processor until smooth: carrots, can of cannellini beans, sunflower seed butter, dark brown sugar, Sriracha, water, and lemon juice. Taste: add more sugar for sweetness or more Sriracha for heat.

Notes & Tips

Up close and personal.

When you’re making the spring rolls, “Be quick, but don’t hurry,” as legendary basketball coach John Wooden said.

Take the rice wrapper out of the water while it’s still slightly firm. If you leave the wrapper in the water until it’s flimsy, it’ll be difficult to roll. There’s a learning curve to dunking the wrapper—just pay attention to how the wrapper feels under your fingers, and you’ll get it.

Consider adding cumin, garlic, or other spices to the sauce if you don’t have fresh carrots. By the way, I scrubbed the carrots but didn’t peel them.

One option is to stir some of the carrot sauce into the protein crumbles so that the spring rolls carry a hint of the carrot sauce on the inside.

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