Instead of having two recipes for you today, I came very close to having none.
If my husband and daughter hadn’t walked in right in the middle of my culinary meltdown, tasted a couple of the misshapen spring rolls I had managed to coax out of the dried out wrappers that had been buried in my freezer for months, and pronounced them not only edible but blog-worthy, I might have given up on cooking, declared the cabbage I’d already prepared a minimalist coleslaw, and ordered Szechuan Tofu and Vegetable Lo Mein from the take-out place down the street.
But they loved the homely little baked spring rolls and urged me to make more, despite the fact that only one out of every five wrappers held together enough to survive being stuffed with uncooked cabbage and placed on a baking sheet. So I struggled on for my family, and for you, because I figured that if I could get tasty, low-fat spring rolls out of pastry that should have been thrown out during the Bush administration, you could get even tastier ones using fresh wrappers and less swearing.
I made 14 spring rolls before finally deciding that it was a losing battle; the remaining wrappers were either too dry to pull apart or too soggy from my attempts to rehydrate them. I was left with about half of the vegetables and tofu I’d prepared as stuffing, and since I never throw away perfectly good food (or, apparently, out-of-date frozen food), I got busy turning them into a quick main dish. We had baked spring rolls and lo mein for dinner, which made my carb-loving family very happy.
Both the spring rolls and the pasta are flavored with a chili paste called Sambal Oelek, which provides a lot of heat but no sweetness or other flavor. You can find both it and eggless spring roll wrappers at Asian grocery stores. Look for the wrappers in the frozen section, but do check to make sure that no ice crystals have formed inside the package and the wrappers look fresh.
Easy Baked Spring Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/2 head Napa Cabbage (about 8 ounces cored and shredded)
- 1 carrot
- 1/2 tablespoon sambal oelek (or other chili paste, to taste)
- 6 ounces extra-firm tofu
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
- 2 teaspoons water
- 1 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil optional
- 24 spring roll wrappers (I used 4×4-inch wrappers)
Instructions
- Cut the cabbage in quarters lengthwise and cut out and discard the hard core. Slice two of the quarters thinly, and reserve the other two for another use. Cut the carrot into thin matchsticks about 1-inch long. Mix the cabbage with the carrot in a large bowl and stir in the sabal oelek (chili paste).
- Cut the tofu into 1/4-inch thick slices. Lay them out on a double-layer of paper towels. Top with another double layer of towels and gently press down on each slice with your hands to remove as much moisture as possible. Remove from paper towels and cut into tiny, 1/4-inch cubes. Place into a medium-sized bowl. In another bowl, combine the soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Pour over the tofu, stirring gently (I used my hands) to distribute the sauce without breaking up the tofu.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Place one spring roll wrapper on your work surface with a corner toward you. (Keep the remaining wrappers covered to prevent them from drying out.) Place a heaping tablespoon of the cabbage mixture in the center and top it with a line of tofu cubes. Bring the bottom corner over the filling and the two sides in, forming an envelope-like packet. Moisten the top corner with a little water and roll up from the bottom, pressing the edge to seal. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Bake for 6-9 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 6-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with a sweet and sour dipping sauce such as Apricot Duck Sauce.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
I added another quarter of a cabbage and half a carrot as well as mushrooms and red bell pepper to the vegetables I had left over from making half a batch of spring rolls to make this easy pasta dish. You can substitute whatever vegetables you like, though Napa cabbage (also known as Chinese cabbage) gives it a great flavor and crunch. If you have them, some green onions added near the end would be a nice touch.
Low-Fat Lo Mein
Ingredients
- 6 ounces Napa Cabbage , cored and shredded
- 1 carrot , cut into matchsticks
- 1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek (or other chili paste, to taste)
- 3 oz extra-firm tofu
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil optional
- 8 ounces whole wheat pasta such as fettuccine
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger root
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 red bell pepper , thinly sliced
- 6 Cremini mushrooms , sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (or to taste)
Instructions
- Combine the cabbage, carrots, and chili paste.
- Cut the tofu into 1/4-inch thick slices. Lay them out on a double-layer of paper towels. Top with another double layer of towels and gently press down on each slice with your hands to remove as much moisture as possible. Remove from paper towels and cut into tiny, 1/4-inch cubes. Place into a medium-sized bowl. In another bowl, combine the soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Pour over the tofu, stirring gently (I used my hands) to distribute the sauce without breaking up the tofu.
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain.
- Heat a non-stick wok. Give it a quick spray with olive oil if you like. Add the tofu and cook, turning periodically, until lightly browned on all sides. Remove from skillet.
- Add the ginger, garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms to the hot skillet along with a tablespoon or two of water. Cook, stirring constantly and adding water as needed to prevent sticking, until mushrooms soften, about 1-2 minutes. Add the cabbage mixture, and continue to stir-fry for another 1-2 minutes, until just softened. Add the pasta, gently fold in the tofu, and season to taste with soy sauce and sesame oil. Serve with additional chili sauce on the side.
Nutritional info is approximate.
More Baked Rolls
See these other blogs for baked egg roll recipes and helpful process photos:
- Baked Vegetable Egg Rolls from For the Love of Cooking
- Baked Spring Rolls with Almond Butter Dipping Sauce by Koko’s Kitchen
- Baked Egg Rolls from Albion Cooks (not vegan but adaptable)
- Eggless Baked Spring Rolls from Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking
Helena :LaJaguar:
May 22, 2010 at 12:14 pmHello! ^^
I’m here to tell you I L-O-V-E ♥ your site, I make a lot of your recipes at home and to tell you I think you are being to tough with yourself on the springrolls… ¬¬ They look AMAZING! And I’m positive they’re delish too!
So, greetings from Brazil and I’m always hungry for fatfree recipes! 😀
xoxo ♥
Lisa
May 22, 2010 at 1:19 pmI am not a huge fan of Asian food, but the spring rolls recipe sounds pretty good. First, I need to find the wrappers, which I have never used before. The rest of the main ingredients are right in my fridge. Thanks!!
moonwatcher
May 22, 2010 at 2:33 pmHi Susan,
Goodness, sakes, I’m so glad your family came home and convinced you not to give up cooking!! 🙂 These recipes both look fabulous. I’m sure I can make the lo mein gluten free simply by using brown rice noodles. And now I will be on a quest to find this frozen spring roll pastry, too. If they are made with rice flour, I will be good to go. If not, can I use the larger ones that you have to wet to make raw springs rolls do you think? Those are gluten free and I’ve seen them in the grocery store here. These are definitely two I will try when everything comes together. Yum! Yum!
(By the way the Apricot Duck Sauce looks great, too. I’m on board for that one. I can even see actually baking tofu brushed or marinated in it.)
big hugs and thanks all over again for your wonderful blog–you are a fantastic cook, a wonderful writer and an ace of a photographer!! Plus a very good teacher of how to cook this way. 🙂
moonwatcher
SusanV
May 22, 2010 at 8:56 pmYou are too sweet!
The wrappers I used were made of wheat, but I’ve seen recipes where people bake rolls wrapped in rice paper, so that should work. I look forward to hearing how your experiments go.
Tiffany
May 22, 2010 at 2:39 pmThanks for sharing the recipes! Both the spring rolls and lo mein look delicious. Ah, I love a good carb-fest. 🙂 I’ve also been known to try to salvage even the most unpromising of frozen wrappers, so this gives me hope for the ones I’ll likely find buried in the abyss that is my freezer.
Rebecca
May 22, 2010 at 5:53 pmI love spring rolls but usually stay away because they’re usually fried. I can’t wait to try these. The recipes look really simple! That is super important on a weeknight since I have two little kids on my hands. Thanks and can’t wait to try these recipes!
Diane
May 22, 2010 at 8:25 pmWhat I love about you besides your wonderful recipes it your ability to admit that you are just like the rest of us….subject to calamaties and errors when we cook. It always gives me a feeling of “aha if Susan can do it admist a crisis in the end product, so can I.” Thanks so much. I knew when I met you a couple years back at John McDougalls Celebrity Chef’s weekend that you were a cut above and one of the nicest people I have met there. Thanks for your wonderful site and the wonderful recipes. I can always count on them. Diane from California
Diane
May 22, 2010 at 8:31 pmWhoops. In all my rhetoric, I couldn’t even spell “amidst…”I still appreciate you regardless of my spelling error in my previous comment. Diane from California
SusanV
May 22, 2010 at 8:53 pmDiane, thank you so much for your kind words. That may be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me! You can spell “amidst” any way you want to ! 🙂
Morgan
May 22, 2010 at 9:22 pmThe baked spring rolls look so good!
Lynn
May 23, 2010 at 1:06 amHi Susan (and others),
About pressing tofu – Have you heard of the TofuXpress? I was concerned over using all the paper towels and saw it advertised in Veg News magazine (but purchased via Amazon.com
http://amzn.to/bGHX5t
I thought at 39.95 it was a bit expensive, but purchased anyway. It is wonderful and will really save on paper towels!
SusanV
May 23, 2010 at 8:57 amLynn, another way to do it is to use clean tea towels (the kind without fuzz) instead of the paper towels. I’ve seen the TofuXPress and heard good things about it, but I don’t press tofu often enough to justify the cost. But I do need to start mentioning that cloth towels can be used instead of paper.
Louise
June 4, 2010 at 10:25 amAnd it will cut the tofu into perfect cubes!
Shellie
May 23, 2013 at 10:22 amI just got a different tofu press from Amazon. I just used it for the first time, and it was great.Major save on paper towels, and trying to balance weights on the dish to drain it… I highly recommend if you use tofu often.
http://amzn.com/B007LLGMG2
Anush
May 23, 2010 at 6:27 amI love baked spring rolls. I also don’t cook the filling before baking – it is crisper that way, more like fried spring rolls. I must try your Lo-Mein sometime and especially your Apricot Duck sauce the next time I make spring rolls.
herb
May 23, 2010 at 9:14 amWow these recipes look easy and appetizing! I suggest however, that when you take pictures of food with chopsticks, please don’t stick the chopsticks in the bowl. This is only done in funerals. Better put the chopsticks beside the dish or on a chopsticks rest. 🙂
SusanV
May 23, 2010 at 9:21 amSorry about that! I had no idea. I took several photos of the chopsticks resting in the little slots built into the bowl but then selected the one showing the noodles in the process of being eaten.
Greenling
May 26, 2010 at 1:08 pmI always thought that only applied to bowls of steamed rice with a pair of chopsticks vertically standing in the rice – like incense at a Buddhist shrine. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen illustrations in Chinese and Japanese media of chopsticks poking askance out of noodle bowls.
Stefanie
May 23, 2010 at 10:58 amI have everything for those spring rolls now. Yay! They look so good along with your Lo Mein. I’m glad you decided to post this. 🙂
runcrissierun
May 23, 2010 at 4:10 pmThe baked spring rolls are fabulous. I used rice paper rolls since I had them, and I have to tell you they were very tasty. In fact, I’m looking forward to making more in a few minutes along with trying the Vita-Mix potato soup recipe! Thanks, as always, for another fabulous recipe!
Crissie
Lex
May 23, 2010 at 8:31 pmThat Lo Mein looks fantastic! I’m in a total noodle state of deprivation and need to fix that by whipping that up asap!
sasa
May 24, 2010 at 4:43 amPeople love delicious food but fear the higt fat.So, delicious food with low fat is very welcomed by all people.
Melanie @ I Dream of Tahini
May 24, 2010 at 10:12 ammmmm….. Those look fantastic. So glad you didn’t give up and your family convinced you to continue.
Elizabeth R.
May 24, 2010 at 3:03 pmI use two saucer dishes to press my tofu. I put the tofu on one dish, then turn the other dish upside down and put it on top of the tofu. Then I either press down or put something heavy (like 5lbs of sugar) on top of it to slowly press the water out. Granted, I generally am using firm tofu as opposed to anything silk or soft.
Any suggestions for your lo mein if you don’t have a wok or cast iron skillet? I’m hoping to try it tonight but I suspect I will be using oil..
SusanV
May 24, 2010 at 3:26 pmA large non-stick skillet will work, but if you’re not opposed to using oil, a stainless skillet should do, also.
Elizabeth R
May 25, 2010 at 7:08 amI made both of these last night! We weren’t happy with the spring roll wrappers I bought. Couldn’t get them crispy enough. I’ll have to do more experimenting with the type of wrapper.
My husband is not a vegetarian to it was super easy for me to make a pan of chicken for him, tofu for me and then the rest of the lo mein in a big pot. We loved it! I really enjoy chinese style food but can’t eat it out as it always makes me sick. So I’m always excited to find new recipes to make at home. Thanks!!
Chris
May 25, 2010 at 8:37 amI made both the lo mein and the spring rolls for dinner last night. It was awesome! I was a little skeptical about the spring rolls…there didn’t seem to be enough seasoning, but the first time I make a new recipe I always like to do it exactly, then make adjustmens if needed. Well, no adjustments are needed with this/these recipes! Loved it. My 5yr old even wanted it for his school lunch today, I was shocked. Thanks for sharing a great set of recipes.
whatiwore
May 25, 2010 at 10:14 amThis looks soooo good! I’m going to have to head to chinatown and hunt for ingredients…
Jess
May 25, 2010 at 11:11 pmI made the Low-Fat Lo Mein last night, and it turned out quite well. Considering that my local junk-food chinese place relies on basically fat and salt to flavor their lo-mein, it’s pretty amazing that you can come up with something that tastes great but is low fat!
I am not a huge pasta lover, but I do love veggies, so I ended up doubling the cabbage, red bell pepper and mushrooms. Next time I will also put the whole bell pepper in, and and extra carrot. That, or cut the pasta in half. I also doubled the garlic, but that was not a good idea, since after eating it I was well protected from vampires…
ransom.cakes
May 26, 2010 at 8:22 amYUMMY! what a great appetizer/party food idea!
Louise
June 4, 2010 at 10:22 amHere’s a link to a great tofu press from Quirky (a cool website where followers give ideas for useful “inventions” and then the community of readers offers up suggestions to influence the product’s design). Not only would you be avoiding the unnecessary use of all those paper towels used to dry the tofu, you would also probably end up with much more flavorful tofu!
http://www.quirky.com/products/3-Pressto-
moonwatcher
June 4, 2010 at 9:47 pmHi Susan,
I made the rolls tonight, with rice paper rolls like Crissie did, and they came out fine. I sort of combined your recipe with this one for cabbage rolls:
http://glutenfreeday.com/?p=82
I thought they were really good, and I absolutely LOVED the apricot duck sauce with them. . .however. . .this was my first try with sambal olek, and boy is it hot for me, even a 1/4 of a teaspoon. . .I will make them again sometime, but it’s hard for me to say whether or not I’d rather have the cabbage in sweet and spicy coleslaw form, since I love the crunch of it. This is why I always think I am going to try your grilled romaine and I never do–because the romaine ends up in salad so I can crunch it! I am definitely a crunchy type herbivore. . .but I’d like to experiment with the filling, too. Since the other recipe from gluten free day suggested frying the cabbage, I steamed fried it for a very few minutes, just in case. . .next time I won’t. . .it seems like a version of your miso sauce that I make would be good mixed in with the cabbage or as a dipping sauce. My version uses a teaspoon of peanut butter, a little yellow curry paste and some lime juice and maple syrup for the sweetener. And brown rice miso, since that’s what I usually have. I’ve found that sauce is also amazing on a baked sweet potato. . but now I am getting off the subject! Thanks for inspiring me to try this, and do it gluten-free successfully!
xo
moonwatcher
moonwatcher
June 4, 2010 at 9:55 pmps: forgot to mention that Emilia at Gluten Free Day says you can eat the rice paper cabbage rolls without baking them, which I thought was a good idea, too. That seems like a really “cool” summer option, when it’s too hot to bake, and it would solve my problem of wanting more gluten free crunch without the oil!
xo
moonwatcher
Terri Trimble
September 20, 2010 at 7:01 amI made both these recipes last week and we really loved them. Baked spring rolls are such a terrific idea; I think I’m going to be trying out lots of variations in the future. Thanks so much for posting this!
Laura
October 5, 2010 at 7:25 pmFirst- The Lo Mein was great and both my husband and I loved it. He can’t wait to eat it again for lunch tomorrow, which is a compliment.
Second- I went off on a tangent with the spring rolls and thought I’d share. I didn’t feel like driving the 40 min to the Asian food market to get spring roll wrappers, but I really wanted spring rolls. I had an (old, out of date) roll of phyllo dough in the freezer and decided to give it a go with that instead. I wanted a sweet dipping sauce so I mixed peach jam with sriracha, soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. The result? The coveted “Holy crap that’s good!” from my husband at first bite. I replaced the tofu with some rice noodles I had in the fridge but otherwise the filling was exactly as written. I now have plans to make Asian themed beggers purses and serve them over a bed of ginger-sesame kale with the peach dipping sauce drizzeled over it as a dressing. I can pre-make most of it that day so I can actually see my guests at our next dinner party.
Thanks for the great lo mein recipe and for giving me a new company worthy meal! I come to your site first every week when I meal plan and you never let me down.
Craig
November 14, 2010 at 10:49 amThe spring rolls were amazing and were remorselessly devoured by my dinner guests
Jackie
January 5, 2011 at 6:35 pmI fixed this recipe for dinner last night and it was delicious! I didn’t have the dough wrappers for the spring rolls so I used the rice ones that you soak. They didn’t hold up very well when I turned them in the oven and they were pretty chewy. I can’t wait to try them again using the wrappers in your recipe!
mrsleny
January 8, 2011 at 11:30 pmThose spring rolls look great. I don’t cook much but it really inspired me to try making my own. I used rice paper wrappers instead and ended up using more oil than I would have liked to bake as I don’t have a Silpat. I’ve never used silicon mats before. Do things still get nice and crispy?
Thanks for the inspiration.
thehauserfamily
February 23, 2011 at 1:41 pmHubby liked it as did all 5 kids! I did the lo mein first and made spring rolls with the leftovers. Easy meal to make for dinner and lunch the next day. Ohh and a little tip I often double roll mine. Makes them extra crunchy and since they have so few calories it isn’t a big deal. Thanks for the great idea!
goodnessbaker
February 28, 2011 at 2:48 pmHi Susan, I included your site and this recipe in my favourite top 5 vegan recipe sites for This Dish is Veg. Thanks for the inspiration! http://www.thisdishisvegetarian.com/2011/02/top-five-vegan-recipe-websites-you-cant.html
Lauren (PB&G)
June 30, 2011 at 3:48 pmYum! These look fantastic! I’m trying to figure out a fun menu for the girls night my mom and I are having this weekend. Maybe these spring rolls will be something I can work with! So happy!
Missy
August 11, 2011 at 9:22 pmYummy yum! Just finished making both recipes and we were not disappointed. My husband did have a gripe. Why does cooking take so long now? (I must let you know I have been cooking your recipes for 2 weeks now.) Which I responded to….Is it good?? Hubby says “Yeah”. Nothing more was said on the matter 🙂 I served it to the whole family and they gobbled it up. Thank you again for all the fabulous recipes!! Keep them coming.
Meridith
September 26, 2011 at 7:21 pmI’ve only eaten spring rolls once and have never tried making them. This recipe was simply delicious. The duck sauce was awesome, too! My hubby and 3 year old loved supper tonight – thank you! 🙂
I ended up using rice paper spring roll wrappers (all I could find), so just had to soften them up in a bowl of water and was ready to go. To accomodate my daughter’s taste buds, I ended up using a sweet red chili sauce. It was really good, but I can see how a spicier chili paste would really liven things up. Thanks again!
Meridith
September 29, 2011 at 10:17 amI had spring rolls for the first time a couple weeks ago in a restaurant and I just knew you would have a healthy version for me to try at home. This recipe did not disappoint! My 3 year old loved them and my hubby was overly impressed. 🙂 The duck sauce was the final, delicious touch. I couldn’t find the frozen pastry so I had to use rice paper, but after a quick dunk in warm water it was ready to roll. Thank you!
Meridith
September 29, 2011 at 10:18 amHa! I loved these so much I added 2 comments! 🙂 They really are that good.
SusanV
September 29, 2011 at 10:51 amThanks, Meridith! That’s good to know!