Thai Cuisine: Baked Tofu / Avocado Spring Rolls With Thai Peanut Sauce

Even so, I decided that I would not make something warm for dinner but something focused on spring. How about that? Ryan was happy when he found that I had planned on making something Asian, since he was tired of Tex-Mex. He had eaten way to much at the Super Bowl party and decided it was time to take a break from Tex-Mex food, even though he would ave been happy with my making Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Going back to being ispired by the up and coming Spring, I decided I would try my hand at fresh spring rolls. I knew I felt comfortable with making sushi all the time, but I decided it was time to learn how to work with rice paper. The preparation is almost the same with sushi rolls when it comes to making spring rolls.
You have to choose your fillings and then shred, julienne, chop, slice and have it nicely laid out on a board in order to make the assembly process easier. The exception comes when using the rice paper. You have to soak each sheet one at a time and wait for the paper to absorb the warm water. Then you add the fillings and roll. My process would have been a lot more labor intensive if I had not had this dandy tool I found about a month ago.
It juliennes your choice vegetables in such a quick time. I mentioned a while back that the mandoline I received for Christmas did not work, especially when it came to julienning vegetables, so when I found this tool at the store for 3 bucks, I decided I must give it a try! No regrets. I julienned beets, cucumbers, and carrots like never before. The gadget is a julienne peeler made by OXO, ironic enough since the faulty mandoline was OXO. Here is what my bamboo board contained for the spring rolls:
I knew that Thai Spring rolls had cilantro and basil, but since I did not have cilantro, I decided to just stick with basil. Since these rolls were going to be our supper, I wanted a protein in the rolls and something hearty to make it filling. I found a baked tofu at my local health food store that looked very delicious, so I sliced that up along with some delicious avocado. After I finished assemblying the rolls, I prepared a spicy peanut sauce that I knew Ryan would like. Does anyone else's husband like peanut butter sandwiches as mine does? Ryan likes anything that has crushed peanuts or a peanut sauce. He told me that the dipping sauce for the rolls was a KEEPER. Well, that is always good to know. I am glad I had all the ingredients in hand, especially tamarind concentrate. I am just happy that we have many Asian markets in our area, because I have been able to make the dishes we both like.

After the sauce was prepared, I decided to make a miso soup to accompany the meal, even though miso soup is NOT Thai. If I had more time, I would have made a Coconut-Curry Soup, but I will have to make that the next time.