This week’s installment of What’s Cooking with YOUR Kids is brought to you from Romy of DoughReMe Kids, a cooking school for children in Brooklyn, New York.  She and I seem like two peas in a pod – both eager to get kids excited about eating fresh and healthy ingredients.

If you ask any parent what foods they wish their child would eat, the answer is inevitably “more vegetables”. These Vietnamese Summer Rolls incorporate numerous vegetables, so when a child enjoys them, the veggie goal is achieved really fast. Plus, they aren’t fried like spring rolls and contain very little fat, so they are nutritious as well.

We made these in class a couple of weeks ago and the kids loved every part of the lesson – creating, snacking on ingredients along the way and gobbling down the finished product. In fact, they loved the rolls so much that they worked extra hard to make as many as they could so they would be able to take more of them home. When we started to run out of a vegetable, they kept going with whatever ingredients were left. Needless to say, we had a blast.

My students love food with lots of flavor instead of plain steamed or boiled foods that we are trained to think will appeal to their tastes. We made a rice vinegar based dipping sauce that each of them spooned into their rolls and licked off of their fingers. Without the sauce, the rolls were just too boring for these confident eaters.

The great thing about these rolls is that they are not “kids food”. They look as gorgeous on a platter for a dinner party, as they do for a play date.  Have fun with them and experiment with different vegetables, meats and fish. As long as the kids are making them, they’ll eat them. It’s a win-win in every way.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Ingredients for dipping sauce

1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp. ginger, grated
1 scallion, white part only, cut into thin slices
1 tsp. Thai fish sauce
3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp. agave sweetener or sugar

Ingredients for rolls

10 +- round summer roll rice wrappers (found in Asian markets)
2 steamed skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large carrots cut into thin matchsticks
1 large cucumber cut into thin matchsticks
1 large zucchini cut into thin matchsticks
1 package enoki mushrooms, rinsed well, large base stem removed, small stems separated (substitute button mushrooms, thinly sliced) optional
4 oz. sunflower or pea shoots optional
1 handful of fresh cilantro, stems removed and lightly chopped
1 cup unsalted peanuts, chop
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a bowl and set aside at room temperature.
2. Arrange all of the ingredients on your work surface on a large platter. Also place a rimmed baking sheet on the work surface with an inch or more of warm water. One at a time, place a rice wrapper into the water and allow to soften for about 15-20 seconds. They will become soft and pliable, but not as soft as a cooked spaghetti noodle. Carefully remove from the water and pat dry with a paper towel. If the edges curl, gently unfurl them so the roll is completely flat. If you cannot undo the curled edges, discard the wrapper and start over. Note: this happened with the kids, but they were able to salvage most of them.
3. Place the softened rice wrapper in front of you. Fill the roll with a few pieces of the various vegetables, chicken, cilantro and peanuts in a vertical line in the center of the wrapper stacking as necessary in order to leave several inches of empty space on the top and bottom (there will be much more space on the sides). If desired, spoon a ½ teaspoon of dipping sauce over the filling. Do not use too much sauce or it will soften a hole in the wrapper.
4. Using two hands, lift the top of the wrapper up and over the vegetables about a ¼ of the way down. Lift the bottom of the wrapper up and over in the same fashion.
5. Next, lift the right of the wrapper over the vegetables and then roll to the wrapper to the left to conceal the filling. It may take a couple times to get it just right.
6. Continue filling all of the rice wrappers until you use all of the vegetables. Remember – the more you make, the more you get to eat. Serve with the remaining dipping sauce. If the sauce is popular, be prepared to make more.
7. The rolls can be refrigerated overnight, if necessary.