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while we "suffer" through a serious lack of winter and all that Polar Vortex non-sense, this summer-like weather has had me craving summer rolls. Luckily, my local Vietnamese restaurant, Miss Saigon in the Gables does a pretty solid job of taking care of me. But, the obsession has reached a new height and I've been making this rice paper rolls on the regular. So, I thought I would finally share. They are so easy, so impressive and, most importantly, so delicious. Part of the appeal of making summer rolls at home is that they're kind of the garbage disposal of recipes. You can use any fresh vegetable leftovers in these bad boys and they're just as good. This time, I used a medley of produce that was in danger of going back in my fridge and make a very, very simple peanut sauce to go with them. I've gotten more creative with my peanut sauces before, but I find that chili sauce and chunky natural peanut butter is the best and easiest combination - not to mention by the time I get to making the sauce I'm hyper-anxious about wanting to dig in.

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Anyway, I hate reading all this mumbo-jumbo of food blogs, so I'll get to the main event.

Here's how the summer roll is made: Summer Rolls there is no science to this. use as much of each ingredient as you'd like and roll until it runs out.

chopped cabbage,

large handful peanuts carrots,

julienned cucumber,

julienned large handful of cilantro,

chopped 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar

1 splash of fish sauce rice noodles,

follow the instructions on the packaging. The thinner the noodle, the better. I like the vermicelli kind. Always boil them for a few minutes after letting them soak. I find that the packaging usually says this is option but it's totally important or else you end up with a very, very al dente noodle.

chopped scallions

quick splash of soy sauce

rice paper wrappers the rice paper wrappers are surprisingly hard to find. They aren't carried at Publix, at least not mine, or Trader Joes. Any Asian market will have them though and there's a surprising amount of Asian markets around here. Just do a quick Google search. I've tried a few brands and they vary in texture and thickness, it costs about $2 for a whole bunch of sheets, so you can buy two varieties and experiment if you'd like.

Mix together top seven ingredients in a large bowl.

Take a large lasagna tray and fill with room temperature water. Lay a single sheet in the water for about 20 seconds. It should still have a bit of the structure when you take it out of the water. Don't worry if it's a little hard still. Lay it out on a clean surface or cutting board and start to fill with filling mixture. Think of this like a burrito. It's dangerous to put too much because it will pierce the wrapping or be tough to close. Add rice noodles. And fold up like a burrito. Start with the outside edges in and the tuck it in a bit so the mixture is tightly wrapped and roll until closed. The rice paper will seal as it dries a bit. I like to leave the edge facing down because I get worries it will start to come undone.

Boom! That's it!

peanut dipping sauce

chunky natural peanut butter,

stirred sambal olek, fresh ground chili paste.

You can find this pretty much everywhere, including your local grocery, next to the Sriracha. Lightly stir together. Don't overstir or it will take on a funky texture and get kind of hard and white. Learned this the hard way folks. Your welcome.

mid "winter" summer rolls recipe