Not long ago I found spring roll wrappers at PCC Market and since then they've become a staple in our pantry. They seem to keep forever although you will find yourself using them more often than you expected. As long as you keep plenty of fresh vegetables in your house you will always have a fresh, easy and fun meal at close hand.

Spring rolls are also a great way to incorporate vegetables into your meal in a way that children might not find so offensive. There are no limits to the kinds of ingredients you can put into a spring roll so making them kid friendly is easy. To ensure satisfaction, have a little fun, and delegate labor encourage your family to create their own!

The reality is rolling a lot of spring rolls is lake stuffing a lot of manicoti, it's nice to have help because even though it's easy it still takes time. Show your kids the technique of dipping the wrappers in water, laying them flat, placing the filling on the wrapper, and then the easy fold and roll. Try having an wide assortment of ingredients that your family will love, for example:

leftover chicken, beef, or fish

cooked shrimp

tofu

shredded cabbage

shredded carrots

green onion

green pepper

cilantro and parsley

chopped garlic & ginger

fresh bean sprouts or alfalfa sprouts

chopped water chestnuts

You get the picture. There really is nothing that you can't put inside a spring roll. Maybe even try and dessert roll with fresh fruit, coconut & chocolate sauce for dipping.

Below there is a recipe that I follow with various interpretations. You can plan on cooking them or eating them fresh. I split the following batch in two and did half in the oven and left the other half fresh. The ingredients just fill a full batch of wrappers when using 2 wrappers per spring roll, which I recommend.

Shrimp Spring Rolls

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots

3 green onions chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 T chopped fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves chopped

Soy sauce to taste & pepper to taste.

Mix ingredients together. Take 2 spring roll wrappers and dip into water to soften enough to roll easily. Personally I like them pretty wet. Add 2 to 3 T of filling to lower part of wet wrapper laid flat. Roll a couple of times, fold in the sides and then roll until done. Repeat until all wrappers are used up.

You can consume just the way they are or you can preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spray non-stick on cookie sheet, place spring rolls on sheet, give them light spray with same non-stick and put in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until light golden brown. Serve both with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce.