SRC - Chicken and Apple Rice Paper Rolls Recipe
Well it's reveal day for Group D of the Secret Recipe Club! This month I was delighted to be given Natural Noshings by Nora. I came across Nora's blog quite a few months ago and had already flagged a number of recipes to make.
We have been making a real effort over the past 6 months or so to cut out processed foods and remove refined sugar from our diet. We have a pantry full of oats, coconut oil, chia seeds, natural nut butters and raw cacao. Natural Noshings has some amazing recipes that are gluten free and use real whole ingredients with nothing artificial or processed in sight.
I have bookmarked some of the sweet treats to make like the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Bites (which will be the perfect after kindy snack for my 4 year old) and the Healthy Nutella (which my peanut butter loving 2 year old will go nuts for - pun intended!).
Yet again though I have chosen to make a main because quite simply I couldn't go past these. Nora calls them spring rolls but in Australia spring rolls use a different wrapper and are baked or fried. We call these rice paper rolls. But really whatever you call them they are little parcels of deliciousness!
Adding the apple was a stroke of genius. The sweetness of red apple paired with the chicken and peanut sauce was fantastic. My kids adored these. Well actually Charlie my 2 year old couldn't be convinced that the rice paper wrappers were actually edible so he just ate the fillings and lots of sauce.
The original recipe had apple and cabbage but as usual I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some extra veges into the kids. All the colours of the rainbow crammed into something they can roll up and dip in a yummy sauce (my version of the sauce has a few extra flavours added). All in all a healthy and delicious dinner!
Apple and Chicken Rice Paper Rolls with Peanut Sauce
Adapted from Spring Rolls on Natural Noshings
For the rolls:
- 12 rice paper wrappers
- 4 small chicken thighs (marinated in a little soy sauce and sesame oil then baked and cut into strips
- 1 medium red apple, sliced into matchsticks
- 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1 medium avocado, sliced thinly
- 1 small red capsicum, thinly sliced
- ½ bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- For the peanut sauce:
- 3 tablespoons hot water
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter (mine was smooth, all natural)
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice malt syrup
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
To prepare the sauce, place all the ingredients in a small jug and whisk to combine.
To prepare the rice paper rolls, fill a large shallow bowl with just warm water. Working with one wrapper at a time, submerge it in the water and allow to soften (about 30 seconds) turning once or twice. Carefully remove from water and lay flat on a damp tea towel.
Half way between the centre of the wrapper and the edge closest to you, layer on some carrot, capsicum, avocado, chicken, apple and chopped coriander, leaving a gap of about an inch on each side.
Take the edge closest to you and fold it over the filling. Roll it once more and then fold the shorter left and right sides inward, like you would a burrito. Then continue wrapping and rolling until sealed. Place on serving platter, leaving a little room between them as they will stick together.
Repeat with remaining wrappers and serve with the peanut sauce!