DECONSTRUCTED VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLL SALAD

There are times when either you have left over ingredients from your Vietnamese rolls or you've run out of rice paper.  When this happens, I make a deconstructed Vietnamese spring roll salad that is super refreshing.  You can either use the spicy peanut salad dressing or a very refreshing Vietnamese dipping sauce called nuoc cham. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Tips for making deconstructed Vietnamese spring roll salad.

Shrimp.

If you are making the shrimp for this salad, I prefer to "spice" up my shrimp a bit rather than just boiling the shrimp.  You can either just saute this in a butter, garlic sauce or make the easy "Casian" (cajun asian) shrimp that is delicious.

Vegetables.

To make this salad visually interesting, I julienne firm vegetables like carrots and cucumbers with a mandoline. However, any salad vegetables will work.

Rice noodles.

I use rice noodles because they don't stick to each other and are not soggy.  You can add a little oil after cooking to prevent it from sticking, but the rice noodles do separate when the salad dressing is added and the mixture is being tossed.

"Crunch"

I like adding "crunch" to my salads for a special mouth feel.  If you have time, you can fry up some spring roll wrappers which create a wonderful delicate crunch. 

Otherwise, you can add seeds such as pumpkin or sunflower seeds.  You can also add crispy deep-fried onions.

Dressing for the deconstructed Vietnamese spring roll salad.

I like using the spicy peanut dressing which is slightly thicker than a vinaigrette and mixes well with all the spring roll ingredients.  I like adding FRESH lime to the dressing as it gives it a refreshing taste.   It's like have a spring roll without the work!  Enjoy and let me know what you think in the comment section.