Fresh Thai spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce

This recipe is somewhat time-consuming, but I often crave these Thai-inspired fresh vegetable spring rolls! I learned how to make them from a random guest-- a cross-country bike tourer who I was hosting for the night. He also made a delicious Indian curry. Anyway, most times I've made this I've recruited 1-2 friends, and it goes a lot faster.

Here is the list of ingredients:
-1 block tofu
-1 or 2 carrots
-1 cucumber
-handful of bean sprouts
-handful of green onions
-2 of the following: mint, basil, or cilantro
-rice paper wrappers

To start, I drained a cut some tofu into 1/4 inch slices, then gently fried them until golden brown. I let those cool on a paper towel and then cut into thinner strips. Meanwhile I sliced up the cucumber, carrot, and green onion into very thin strips. I put the herbs in a handy place on the counter (it's best to have an assembly line so you don't forget anything!).

When the tofu was done, I heated up some water in a large, round dish-- something big enough to submerge a rice wrapper in. The water should be hot but not scalding. I set aside a large plate to roll the wraps on. Then I took each wrapper, one at a time, and submerged it until the edges start to get soft. It should easily fold and stick onto itself, like cling wrap, but not be too soggy or it will rip. I held it up to drain briefly, and straightened it out on the large plate. I then added my ingredients near an edge, and rolled it up tightly like a burrito. I made 9 rolls today, assuming that 1 serving is about 3 (maybe 4, if you're hungry?). They don't last long in the fridge, so again this is best as a dish to share the prep work and the eating :) Also, if you have leftover tofu veggies, they make a great side salad together!


So with the healthy part out of the way, onto the peanut dipping sauce. I consider this necessary to fully enjoy the spring rolls, since there's no salt, fat (other than residual oil on the tofu), or sugar in the spring rolls. Here are the rough ingredients for the dipping sauce, but I typically just keeping adding things to taste:

-about 1/2 cup peanut butter (start with less, and add more)
-about 1/4 water (ditto)
-1 tsp brown sugar or agave syrup
-1-2 tsp soy sauce, to taste
-Sriracha or chili paste to taste
-dash of rice vinegar
-dash of soybean oil

You might have to heat up the peanut butter in the microwave at first, and then keep adding the other ingredients. My sauce sometimes turns gelatinous, but just whisk in more water until it gets very smooth and creamy. Trust me.