Rice Paper Wraps Can Make Quick, Easy, & Healthy Lunches or Snacks

I've been making variations on these wraps for awhile now, and they've turned out to be very convenient for lunches and/or snacks, especially if you have to eat on the run. Here's the version I made today:

A "Wrap-Making Workstation"

Ingredients (per wrap)

• 1 Vietnamese brown rice spring roll wrapper
• 1/3 piece of Emerald Cove Organic Pacific Nori
• 1/2 piece of a whole heart of palm (from a can, sliced lengthwise into 2 narrow strips)
• 1 slice organic avocado
• 1/4 organic tomato (chopped)
• 1/4 c or less snow pea shoots (ends trimmed off)
• 1/4 c or less upland cress leaves
• 1 slice Applegate Naturals roasted turkey breast (if non-veg)

I like to cut everything up and prepare a little "workstation" so I can then just focus on making a bunch of wraps at once.

Directions

Ingredients Across Nori

• Rinse the spring roll wrapper under warm water until it's wet, and press it down on a hard surface (for the photo I used a blue cutting surface, but honestly I find it best to do on a clean piece of granite counter top!)
• Place the nori in the center so there's a strip to work with. 
• At the center of the nori, place the heart of palm strips, the avocado strips.
• In the gaps, place the chopped tomato.
• Put the snow pea shoots and upland cress leaves on top.
• If going non-veg, place the turkey breast slice on top of everything (it works nicely to hold in the other ingredients).
• Fold in the right and left sides of the wrap, squishing other ingredients slightly more into the center.
• While holding the sides as best you can, flip the end of the wrap that's closest to you up and around the other ingredients so they're secure. Then, holding in the sides and the top, roll tightly. 

Wraps on a Platter

Tip: This takes some practice. if you're having trouble, try fewer ingredients--it's easy to want to put in too much!

I generally make a bunch at once, put them on a platter, cover them with plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge. Sometimes there's a bit of condensation that shows up, but that helps keep them sticky; they dry out quickly again when you take them out. I'd recommend eating them within a few days, especially if you use avocado.

Other ingredients I've put into wraps include:

• Thinly sliced carrot or cucumber
• Different Applegate lunchmeats (like the turkey bologna) 
• Cooked shrimp (sliced-in-half lengthwise)
• Other sprouts (e.g. alfalfa) or greens (spinach, arugula, etc.)

And, if you have to eat on the go, you can generally fit 2 into a ziplock baggie. :-)