Sesame Quinoa Spring Rolls

This recipe is yet another Pinterest find!  I love quinoa and am always looking for new ways to prepare it.  This recipe called for sesame oil so how bad could it be?

Here is a LINK to the recipe.

Like much of what I've been making lately, this recipe is simple.  Quinoa is very easy to cook.  Much like farro or couscous, if you can boil water you can make quinoa.  So set your pot to boiling, add the quinoa, let it sit for 15 minutes and it's done.

While the quinoa was cooking I whipped up the dressing which is made of rice vinegar, soy sauce, minced garlic, minced ginger and sesame oil.  The aroma of the dressing alone told me this was going to be good!  I minced the ginger very well.  I like the flavor of ginger but if you get a piece that is too big, well, it's overpowering and, in my opinion, nasty.

The recipe calls for "two handfuls of greens".  I sliced up some romaine and tossed it with the dressing.  Once the quinoa is done it is added to this mixture.  I drained my quinoa.  The recipe didn't call for it but there was quite a bit of moisture left even after the quinoa was cooked and I didn't want that oozing out of my wrap! 

The rolls are made with rice paper wrappers.  I have never used rice paper wrappers before but they looked so pretty I just had to try.  Out of the package the wrappers have the consistency of a very thin piece of plastic.  They are hard!  The process calls for soaking them for 30 seconds to soften them up so that you can roll them.  The recipe warns not to soak them too long or they will fall apart.  Yep, they fall apart!

I found that I needed about one and a half times the filling that was called for to make a nice looking wrap.  I also found that once I took the won ton wrapper out of the water, placing it on a piece of paper towel helped dry it a little so it was easier to work with.

 Aren't they pretty?

But how do they taste.  I'll admit I tasted the filling before I made my first wrap.  It was delicious!  In the wrap it was good too, but the wrap didn't really add anything but 350+ calories.  My hubby loved them, he ate three!  I decided not to waste the calories on the wrapper and make lettuce wraps out of mine.  This I loved!  Next time I make them I will use less ginger.  I think it was a little overpowering and I wanted to taste the garlic and soy too.

For my vegan friends, this is a winner!