Quinoa Spring Rolls with Homemade Duck Sauce (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

Name: Quinoa Spring Rolls with Homemade Duck Sauce (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: Spring Rolls:; 8 Rice Paper Wraps; 1 Cup Red Quinoa (cooked, cooled); 8 Napa Cabbage Leaves (sliced lengthwise); 6 Celery Hearts (sliced lengthwise); 4 Green Onions (sliced lengthwise); Duck Sauce:; 3/4 Cup Apricot Jam; 3 TB Rice Vinegar; 1 TB Coconut Aminos; 1 Tsp Minced Garlic; 1/2 Tsp Chili Paste; 1/2 Tsp Ginger Puree; 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder; Toasted Sesame Seeds (optional, topping)

May 29, 2017 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 71 Comments

Easy, breezy, fresh Quinoa Spring Rolls with Homemade Duck Sauce, gluten-free, vegan, and allergy-free! Fresh rice paper wraps filled with raw veggies and red quinoa are perfect for dipping into a sweet apricot sauce! This recipe makes for a light healthy and satisfying meal!

I don’t wrap often, but when I do…deliciousness ensues! My favorite food to eat and for those cozy feels is Indian food, but when it comes to actually making, the Asian cuisines always have my heart! There are just so many different types of dishes you can make; things never get boring! Those fresh rice paper spring rolls you always see around the internet always looked so appealing to me. Last summer I decided it was time to take my own swing at making the dish.

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The wraps you use for fresh spring rolls, rice paper wraps, are super delicate. You soak them just for a few seconds and then they get super sticky and stretchy. If you’re too rough, they’ll rip. My first few rolls didn’t survive the wrapping and rolling. But after you test things out and get a feel for it all, you get into the swing of it and a calming rhythm of stuffing, wrapping, and rolling. Just create a little assembly line, play some music, and concentrate on the quinoa spring roll creation!

Now these quinoa spring rolls needed a little “something something” to be dipped in. One of the greatest classic Asian sauces, duck sauce! Duck sauce is just a sweet apricot based sauce that is the sister to soy sauce at a Chinese take-out restaurant. I grew up LOVING duck sauce. I’d be happy with a plate of white rice topped with soy sauce and duck sauce. That salty + umami + sweet combo was to die for!

Sauces always make a meal. A perfect sauce goes a long way, but the flavors have to be just right; complimentary. You don’t want the sauce to take away from the dish, you want the flavor to add to the dish. I guess a good complimentary sauce can be a bit unexpected too. You might not think a sweet duck sauce would be good with quinoa spring rolls and fresh, crunchy, raw veggies, but boy o boy…it is delicious!

Cooked and cooled red quinoa, fresh Napa cabbage leaves, green onion, and celery slices. Crispy, crunchy, and so fresh to bite into! Do a little dunking in the homemade sweet sauce…glorious to a whole new level! Needless to say, my entire family was in love with these gluten-free, soy-free, allergy-free, vegan spring rolls rolls!

Quinoa Spring Rolls with Homemade Duck Sauce