Sharing a conversation over a family meal is a great way to get to know what your kids are up to. We sometimes lose sight of this these days, and many families rarely sit down to eat together. Or, if you’re like me, much of the time at the table is spent correcting manners (If only I had a dollar for everytime I’ve said “don’t speak with your mouth full” or “use your knife and fork!”).

One of our favourite family meals is rice paper rolls. They’re a great way to get all the family involved in preparation, and they can be put together at the table and eaten immediately. Manners go out the window for the night, (which is  good thing), and conversation flows.

If you’ve not made rice paper rolls before, don’t be intimidated. They are very easy to make-my kids have no problems soaking the rice paper and then assembling their own rolls.  Have a couple of shallow dishes such as a quiche flan at the table to soak the rice paper in – just make sure everyone washes their hands before you get started!!

Rice paper rolls are a great healthy meal the whole family can enjoy, and work well as part of your family meal plan, if you’re trying to lose a few kgs.

Spicy Rice Paper Rolls

Serves :  4
Total Preparation Time :  Up to 15 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp peanut oil
• 4 spring onions (approx 15g each)
• 4 piecechilli, red, fresh (approx 2g ea)
• 2 medium cucumber, lebanese, fresh, skin on (approx 100g ea)
• 4 tbsp mint, fresh, chopped
• 4 tsp ginger, raw, grated  4 tspfish sauce
• 400 gprawns, raw, shelled
• 8 pieces rice paper sheet (approx 10cm sq.)
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 kaffir lime leaves

Method

• Shred the chilli, lime leaf, spring onion, mint and cucumber.-
• Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat.
• Add the ginger and the chilli and cook until crisp.
• Add the kaffir lime leaf and prawns and cook for 3 minutes or until prawns are cooked through. Set aside to cool.
• Once cooled, combine with spring onion, cucumber, mint, lime juice and fish sauce.- Place a rice paper roll in a bowl of warm water for 30 seconds or until soft and pliable. Remove and pat dry.
• Place a little of the chilli mixture down the center of the rice paper wrapper.
• Fold over one end of the rice wrapper to make a base. Roll over the other sides of the wrapper to enclose the filling.
• Serve the rice paper rolls with soy sauce or sweet chilli sauce in bowls for dipping.

Nutritional Details

• Calories:219
• Total Preparation Time :  Up to 15 minutes.
• Fat: 3.0 gms
• Protein: 23.4 gms
• Carbohydrates: 23.8 gms
• Fibre:  1.8 gms

Very Quick and Easy Option

You can put pretty much anything inside the rolls. I often use a Sang Choi Bow mix you can buy in the supermarket – I think I usually get it from Woolies – a small packet of spices is packaged with pork mince, and you just need to add water, spices and pork and cook. I always add very finely chopped carrots and broccoli into the mix, along with some oyster sauce. Then chop extra carrot carrot and cucumber strips to add to the rolls. Make sure you let the mince cool before assembling, and you may need to drain some of the liquid off before serving.

If you like this recipe, you can download 7 more healthy dinner recipes for the whole family here