Last November I participated in a 30 day sugar free/gluten free challenge.  The challenge was difficult at first, because every single meal has to be planned, but once I got the hang of it things went very well. By the end of it I felt great. When it came time to implement what I had learned in every day life things kind of fell apart. I quickly went back to eating exactly the way I was eating before the challenge. A year later I feel like my diet needs a complete overhaul again, so I will be doing the challenge again starting tomorrow.

I was flipping through some magazines to plan next weeks menu when I came across this recipe for Summer Rolls with Sweet and Savory Dipping Sauce from Gourmet Quick Kitchen. I swapped out the tofu for shrimp, and used green pepper instead of cucumber because I had those on hand. The dipping sauce does not meet the sugar free rules, as it calls for some sugar, and hoisin sauce also has sugar in it. But since I’m starting the challenge tomorrow I decided to go ahead and make the sauce for today.

The quick pickled vegetables add a great flavour to the rolls. They are very tasty, and quick and easy to make. I probably should have rolled them a little tighter, but I was still able to pick them up and dip them in the sauce.

I’ll be submitting this post to Magazine Mondays. Head on over to Cream Puffs in Venice Mondays to see what people have been cooking up!

Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Makes 8 rolls

• 2 oz dried bean thread noodles
• 3 small carrots, cut into match sticks
• 1 smell bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp & 3/4 tsp lime juice, divided
• 8 rice paper rounds
• 24 medium-large shrimp, cooked
• 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp water

1. Soak noodles in hot water for 10 minutes.
2. While noodles are soaking, blanch carrots in boiling water for 45 seconds. Rinse under cold water then transfer to small bowl with peppers.  Toss vegetables with rice vinegar, 3 tbsp lime juice, salt. Let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Reserve 2 tbsp of the vinegar mixture, and drain the vegetables.
4. Drain the noodles, rinse them in cold water twice. Using kitchen shears, cut the noodles into smaller pieces. Toss with 3/4 tsp lime juice.
5. Fill a shallow pan with warm water. Soak a rice paper round in the warm water for 30 seconds. Shake off excess water and place on a work surface. Place 3 shrimp, some vegetables, and some noodles on the bottome third of the round. Roll tightly around the filling, folding the sides in. Repeat with remaining rice paper rounds.
6. Make the sauce; Mix reserved pickling liquid with hoisin sauce, peanut butter and water. Serve with rolls.

Enjoy!