Asian Bean and Rice Rolls 

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Serves: 4 person(s)

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins

These are a fiber-full variation of the traditional spring rolls.
Per serving: 373 calories, 6.8 g fat, 316 mg sodium, 9.5 g fiber
Saves: 147 calories, 26.1 g fat, 614 mg sodium, and gains 5.5 g fiber!

Suggestions:

Medium-grain rice is also called sushi rice or sweet jasmine rice; it can be purchased in supermarkets and Oriental groceries.

If desired, the rice mixture can be eaten with a fork or chopsticks, rather than rolling it in lettuce.

Ingredients:

Restaurant spring rolls can be high in calories and fat. By replacing spring roll wrappers for lettuce, omitting the frying oil and soy sauce, and by adding rice and beans, Asian Bean and Rice Rolls not only lower the calories, fat and sodium, but they also boost the fiber content.

To learn more about recipe makeovers see CalorieKing's library article "Smart Substitutes: Your Guide to Low-Calorie Cooking Alternatives".

Recipe Makeover

1 cup raw medium-grain rice 2 Tbsp rice vinegar or white distilled vinegar 1 Tbsp dry cooking sherry 2 tsp sugar 1 Tbsp grated lemon rind 2 Tbsp pine nuts or slivered almonds 2 tsp dark sesame oil 1/2 cup diagonally-sliced snow peas (1/4-inch slices) 2 tsp minced ginger root or 3/4 tsp ground ginger 1 Tbsp water 1 can (15 oz) red beans or light red kidney beans, or 1 1/2 cups cooked dry-packaged red beans or light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 cup chopped seeded cucumber 1 orange, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped 2 medium green onions and tops, thinly sliced 1 dash each of salt and white pepper (or black pepper) 12 large Boston lettuce leaves or leaf lettuce

Traditional Recipe
2 Tbsp rice vinegar 12 spring roll wrappers 6 oz firm tofu 2 Tbsp soy sauce 1 cup chopped green cabbage 1 cup shredded carrots 1 cup mung bean sprouts 1 Tbsp minced garlic 1/2 cup sesame oil

Directions:

Cook rice according to package directions. Heat vinegar, sherry, sugar, and lemon rind in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is melted, about 1 minute. Drizzle vinegar mixture over rice and toss.

While rice is cooking, cook pine nuts in sesame oil in small skillet over medium heat until toasted, about 2 minutes; remove from skillet. Add snow peas, ginger, and water to skillet; cook, covered, over medium heat until snow peas are crisp-tender, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir pine nuts, snow peas, gingerroot, beans, cucumber, orange and green onions into rice. Season with salt and pepper.

Cooked bean-rice mixture can be served or rolled when warm or chilled. When ready to make rolls, spoon about 1/4 cup packed rice mixture onto each lettuce leaf and roll up.

Variations:

Note: Any canned or dry-packaged bean variety can be substituted the red/kidney beans.

Author:

American Dry Bean Board
American Dry Bean

Related Recipes:

Basic Bean Preparation
Basic Rice Preparation