We had a great time serving lunch at the Raleigh Downtown Farmers’ Market last week and plan to be back again soon. Lots of positive feedback was received, especially on the Local Shrimp Summer Rolls with Vinaigrette Dressing.

Thanks for all of your comments and encouragement, Raleigh (and beyond).

Summer rolls are a popular food amount local residents, but I don’t think one would typically consider a summer roll “local,” do you? Well, we’ve adapted the traditional summer roll into a lovely, seasonal locavore dish. To enjoy this, you have to be willing to step out and get a little creative, incorporating non-traditional summer roll ingredients based on what’s in season. We used a variety of fresh vegetables and herbs from the farmers’ market – including cilantro, basil, green onion, carrots, peppers and sugar snap peas. The snap peas added a fantastic burst of flavor and crispness!

To make these rolls at home, the cost of the ingredients you’ll use totals about $1 per roll. However, you’ll probably end up buying more than you need (ie, you only need 1 medium sized carrot, but they usually come in bunches for $3/each at the farmers’ market, and rice paper comes in packs of 40). To stretch your dollar and get full use of your ingredients, we suggest getting a few friends together, each person buying a few items to share and having a summer roll soiree. You’ll just need to double the vinaigrette recipe.

We hope you enjoy the rolls and have fun using your favorite seasonal ingredients in them.

We’ll see you at the market again soon. In the meantime, let us know how your rolls turn out and if we can answer any questions about the recipe!