BLT Summer Rolls with Lime-Sriracha Dipping Sauce

I do love to entertain.

It’s just my thing… I mean, how fun is it to cook wonderful food and have some of your favorite people over to enjoy it?  It is simply lovely.

On Saturday, I invited the ladies that I went to Winter Park with last month over for tapas and game night.  While we didn’t play games, we definitely enjoyed the food and some wine…  including this dish.

This was actually my second attempt at making summer rolls.  You might remember my first try, when I created that PB2 Peanut Sauce… yum!  I was a little less intimidated by the process this time around, and just got down to business.

These summer rolls were AMAZING!  I made the bacon the night before and simply assembled the rolls an hour before the party… and the ladies seemed to love them too!

BLT Summer Rolls with Lime-Sriracha Dipping Sauce

Adapted from Inspired Taste

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

8 8-inch rice paper (summer roll) wrappers

3 cups packed baby lettuce leaves

1-2 large tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 avocado, sliced

8 strips center-cut bacon

For the Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

juice of 1 lime

4-5 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce

salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Prepare the bacon via the package instructions.  Note:  I usually bake my bacon because it just comes out so perfect and is so less messy than cooking via stovetop.  I also choose center-cut bacon over turkey bacon.  All the flavor of bacon, with less fat and less calories than the regular stuff!

2.  While your bacon is baking, prepare the sauce.  Combine the mayo, lime, and sriracha in a small bowl.  Whisk it together, adding salt to taste.  Note:  I added 5 tsp. of sriracha.  Add a little and taste it.  You can always add more!

3.  Slice your avocado and tomato.  Set up an assembly line so that you can quickly fill your summer rolls.  Note:  These rolls are best if they are served within 3 hours of making them.  Time your assembly accordingly.

4.  Fill a large pan with hot water and add one rice paper round.  Allow it to sit in the water until it softens, about 30-45 seconds.

Note:  The texture of the rice paper is hard in the beginning and the ones I picked up had a pattern to them. How I knew they were ready to take them out of the water was that the pattern disappeared as the paper softened.  

5.  Once your rice paper is nice and moistened, move it to a plate and get ready to stuff it!  Add lettuce leaves, then tomatoes, then bacon.  Next drizzle 1-2 tsp. of sauce on the bacon strip.  Add a slice of avocado.  Add salt and fresh pepper, if desired.  Top with more lettuce.

6.  To seal the rolls, follow these instructions (Pics from my other summer roll recipe!)

Here’s how they look when you roll them with the BLT flavors on the inside…

7.  If you’re not planning to serve the rolls immediately, top them with a damp paper towel and store them in the refrigerator until it’s time to eat!  Reminder:  These stay fresh for about 3 hours before the rolls start drying up.

8.  To serve, slice the rolls on the diagonal and serve them on a platter with the extra dipping sauce.

Per roll + 1/8 sauce recipe serving:

CAL 120; CARB 14g; FAT 6g; SAT FAT 1g; PROT 3g; FIB 2g; SUG 3g

WW Points Plus: 3; WW Smart Points: 4

You will definitely have some rice paper wrappers leftover.  They have a long shelf life, but here’s a great recipe that you can try to use up the leftovers.