Whip up these strawberry asparagus rice summer rolls for dinner or even a delicious lunch. They are so light, quick to make and gorgeous. Rice, green asparagus and strawberries make a satisfying combination to enjoy all summer long.
I am pretty sure, you all know summer rolls. Right? Rather than being fried like spring rolls, summer rolls are stuffed with raw or/and cooked ingredients. They are fresh and they taste delicious when cold. But are you familiar with a combination like this one? Green asparagus and sweet strawberries. Water-rich foods. Oh, I love it! They make a lovely combo.
With only five simple ingredients, you’ll create colourful, healthy and fulfilling summer rolls. These open-ended summer rolls get their name because of having one end opened. So easy. Wink. They are so simple to make that you can create a large plate of these summer rolls in only 30 minutes.
Not only are they quick to make, but they are customizable, versatile and packed with healthy ingredients, too. You can also add different herbs or fillings to elevate the flavour. They pair with all kinds of sauces and dips, such as sweet, tangy, creamy and savoury.
As a fulfilling ingredient, I chose rice. It works like glue. More, the rice keeps the asparagus in place. Besides that, it also adds some texture to the roll. In order to make the rice a bit creamy and kind of sticky, add some olive oil and some parmesan cheese. Allow the rice to soak all of the fluids and to cool off, before using it.
You can add some pecorino or cream cheese instead, too. Also, you can swap the rice with real sticky rice or rice noodles. For an extra pep and freshness add some lemon zest or ginger. It will taste even more delicious.
Rice paper
To create the summer rolls, I used rice paper. What do you need to know about it? On one hand, rice paper is very delicate when dry. In fact, it can break very easily. On the other hand, when soaked and wet, it gets sticky and very flexible.
Rice paper and rice paper rolls can be very sticky and they tend to stick to certain surfaces. Talking from my experience, I avoid a wooden cutting board. Wink. Therefore, make sure you always lay the soaked rice paper on a damp plate or silicone mat. Make sure your hands are damp, too.
Just like asparagus also strawberries contain plenty of water. Therefore, they are great hydrating food for sunny and hot days. Delicious and juicy. If you love this combo, you might like also this asparagus-strawberry salad.
Here you can find some of my favourite summer recipes: detox beetroot raspberry soup, Spanish Ajo Blanco, Greek watermelon feta salad and watermelon carpaccio.
Ingredients for 6-7 strawberry asparagus rice summer rolls:
- 6-7 rice papers
- 100 g rice
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- 1 Tbsp of parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp of lemon zest
- 21 green asparagus
- 6-8 strawberries
Start by cooking the rice. After the rice is cooked, season it with salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, lemon zest and parmesan cheese. Mix it and allow it to cool off.
Then, wash the asparagus, snap the ends off and tap them dry. In a larger frying pan, drizzle some olive oil and add the whole asparagus. Pan-fry them for a couple of minutes until slightly golden and bright green on all sides.
In the meantime, wash and trim the strawberries. Tap them dry with a paper towel and slice them lengthwise into 3mm thick slices.
Next, pour some lukewarm water onto a large shallow plate and prepare another same-sized plate or a silicone mat next to it. Lay the first rice paper in the water and soak it for 20 seconds. Once pliable and soft, place it on the other plate (lightly wet).
Open-ended summer rolls
Firstly, add a spoon of rice to the middle bottom part and nicely arrange three strawberry slices at the middle top part. Secondly, fold in about 2 cm from the left and add three asparagus onto the rice, keeping the cut side 2 cm from the right side of the paper end. The asparagus heads should be peeking out of the opened end. Thirdly, carefully, roll up the rice paper, going from the bottom to the top. Continue with the rest of the summer rolls.
Finally, serve the opened-ended strawberry asparagus rice summer rolls for lunch or dinner and take them to a picnic or to work. They taste amazing with a refreshing yogurt dip.
Enjoy.
