Eat the Rainbow Spring Rolls

Eating the rainbow and getting in a healthy dose of colorful vegetables is fun and easy with these colorful rainbow spring rolls.

Now that spring has finally arrived, I have started to crave more fruits and veggies and have been looking for fun new ways to incorporate more of them into my diet.

If you’re stuck in house confinement like we are here in Spain, I’d suggest trying to incorporate as many vegetables into your meals as you can rather than living off packaged foods and canned goods. Despite some foods and toilet paper disappearing off the store shelves, vegetables seem to stay well-stocked here during the current health crisis.

Now, though, it’s more important than ever to keep your immune system strong. One great way to do so is to eat the rainbow.

What does it mean to “Eat the Rainbow”?

Eating the rainbow is the idea that we should try to eat a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables. Generally speaking, the brighter the food, the more it is highly packed with healthy vitamins and antioxidants.

When you eat a diet filled with vibrant foods, you are more likely to be getting the nutrients you need than when you are eating a bland-looking diet of brown and white foods like bread and potatoes.

Not only is “eating the rainbow” a healthy way of living, but bright colors also make foods more fun and appealing.

Eating bright foods in salads and smoothies is a great way to get in your fruits and veggies, but it can get boring after a while.

Ingredients

These spring rolls only need a few simple ingredients.

The spring roll wrappers hold it all together, of course. Because they’re thin and translucent, you can get a peek at the beautiful colors within them even before you take your first bite.

Then you have the fillings which mainly consist of veggies. Once you have the prep work done of cleaning and cutting them, you can whip up a batch of these in no time. I used my food processor, and that made the process quick and easy.

I kept my spring rolls vegan, but you can easily add in some fried egg or ground meat if you so prefer.

Health benefits of colorful pigments

Foods that are bright in color tend to be great sources of a variety of pigments. While they are all unique, most share having anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Red

Many red foods are high in lycopene. Lycopene is a red-colored carotenoid found in foods such as tomatoes, watermelons, and papaya. Red peppers also contain lycopene as well as other antioxidants.

I chose red peppers to add a pop of red to my spring rolls, but you can also choose a different red food like tomatoes.

Orange

Many orange foods like carrots are great sources of beta-carotene. Beta carotene is an antioxidant that helps protect cells within our bodies from damage due to oxidation. It is also a provitamin that can be converted into vitamin A.

Beta carotene has been found to be effective in treating sun sensitivity in certain people as well as photoaging. It also helps prevent vision loss in age-related macular degeneration. It may help lower breast cancer risk and is thought to help prevent certain complications during and after pregnancy. (Source)

Combining carotenoids like beta-carotene and lycopene can increase their activity against free radicals. (One more reason to eat a rainbow of colors all at once!)

Yellow

While many yellow foods are also high in beta carotene, I chose to use turmeric to brighten up my rainbow. Turmeric is a very bright yellow color. Its pigment is so strong that it’s perfect to use as a natural food coloring.

Turmeric is the best source of curcumin, a strong antioxidant that is also anti-inflammatory. Curcumin may suppress tumor formation, making it a potential ally in the fight against cancer.

To help increase the bioavailability of curcumin in turmeric, add some freshly ground black pepper. Piperine, the active component of black pepper, is a known bioavailability enhancer.

Green

Green vegetables are often rich in vitamins, minerals, and chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. It helps plants absorb light and is important for photosynthesis.

Leafy greens are especially rich in chlorophyll, but it can be found in most plants.

Chlorophyllin, a water-soluble analog of chlorophyll, has been shown to be a very effective antioxidant that can protect our mitochondria from all sorts of oxidative stressors.

For the green in your rainbow spring rolls, you can use leafy greens such as spinach, or use green peppers as I did.

Green peppers are rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals. They are especially high in vitamin C, perfect for supporting immune function (which is especially important these days)!

Violet

I skipped over blue in this rainbow, and went right to the beautiful violet found in (ironically) “red” cabbage. Red cabbage gets its beautiful violet color from an anthocyanin pigment.

Anthocyanin pigments are especially fun because they change colors depending on the pH of their environment. I found that out almost by accident when I rinsed the bowl with a few small cabbage pieces left behind and noticed that the rinse water was a beautiful baby blue color! (In acidic environments, it will turn pink or red.)

I ended up using that to my advantage to make a fun, natural color-changing food coloring!

Like the other pigments, anthocyanins are anti-inflammatory antioxidants. They may help prevent diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and metabolic diseases.

Preparation

Clean and slice the veggies

• Prepare the vegetables by washing them thoroughly and then cutting them into small pieces. I used the slicing blade of my food processor to finely slice the bell peppers and the red cabbage. I then used the grating blade to finely grate the peeled carrot.

Prepare the vermicelli

• Boil some water and add in the rice or bean vermicelli, soaking for as long as instructed on the package of your particular noodles.
• Meanwhile, heat some extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil in a frying pan and add in a finely minced garlic clove. Once you have finished soaking the noodles, drain them and throw them into the pan with the oil and garlic. Add some turmeric and salt and sauté all of the ingredients together for a minute or two. Season them with plenty of freshly ground black pepper to help increase the bioavailability of the turmeric.
• Once you have prepared all of the colored ingredients, separate them into bowls to make it easier to put the spring rolls together.

One thing I noticed when making these again with a different type of bean vermicelli is one turned orange rather than yellow. I thought I had added too much turmeric, but then later realized it was a reaction with the particular noodles used.

What’s even more interesting is that when the orange noodles were cooled in the fridge, they turned yellow again! (I’d still prefer eating them warm, but thought the observation was interesting.)

I wanted to give you a heads up in case your noodles aren’t yellow and you can’t figure out why!

Roll the spring rolls

• Spread a damp cloth out on your counter.
• Dip a spring roll wrapper into a pan full of water and place the wrapper onto the cloth.
• Start placing the ingredients onto the wrapper, leaving around an inch of space on top, bottom, and on either side. I added the ingredients in order of the colors of the rainbow. ?(Red on left followed by orange, yellow, green, and violet.)
• Fold both the top and bottom of the wrapper over the ingredients, and then roll it up. Start rolling from one side and push the ingredients into the center as you roll. The spring roll should seal itself when you finish wrapping the clean edge over your roll.

Serving

These spring rolls are tasty when served in a dipping sauce. You can either dip in homemade soy sauce, or choose a sweeter sauce like sweet and sour sauce.

We served these rolls alongside some garlic shrimp the other day. (I’ll have to share the recipe soon!) We found they paired up wonderfully!

I placed some shrimp in the center and drizzled it with the garlic olive oil before taking a bite.

Delicious!

Watch how to make it

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Eat the Rainbow Spring Rolls

Eating the rainbow and getting in a healthy dose of colorful vegetables is fun and easy with these colorful rainbow spring rolls.

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 8 spring rolls

Calories: 85kcal

Author: Tracy Ariza, DDS

Equiment

• ▢
  Food Processor

Ingredients

• ▢ 8 spring roll wrappers

Vegetables for filling

• ▢ 1 small red pepper
• ▢ 1 small carrot peeled and finely grated
• ▢ 1 small green pepper
• ▢ 1/4 small red cabbage

For bean vermicelli

• ▢ 100 g rice or bean vermicelli
• ▢ 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• ▢ 1 clove garlic minced
• ▢ salt
• ▢ black pepper

Instructions

• Prepare the vegetables by washing them thoroughly and then cutting them into small pieces. I used the slicing blade of my food processor to finely slice the bell peppers and the red cabbage. I then I used the grating blade to finely grate the peeled carrot.
• Boil some water and add in the rice or bean vermicelli, soaking for as long as instructed on the package of your particular noodles.
• Meanwhile, heat some extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil in a frying pan and add in a finely minced garlic clove. Once you have finished soaking the noodles, drain them and throw them into the pan with the oil and garlic. Add a bit of turmeric, salt, and pepper, and sauté all of the ingredients together for a minute or two.
• Once you have prepared all of the colored ingredients, separate them into bowls to make it easier to put the spring rolls together.
• Dampen a clean cotton cloth and spread it out on your counter.
• Take a spring roll wrapper and dip it into a pan full of water for around 5 seconds. Shake off the excess water and place the wrapper onto the prepared cloth.
• Start placing the ingredients onto the wrapper. I begin on the left side with the red peppers followed by the orange carrots, the vermicelli that has been seasoned with turmeric, the green peppers, and then ending with some red cabbage on the left side. Try to keep the ingredients in the center of the wrapper, leaving at least around an inch free on either side (and top and bottom).
• Fold both the top and bottom of the wrapper over the ingredients, and then carefully proceed to roll up the spring roll starting from one side and pushing the ingredients into the center as you finish rolling it up. The spring roll should seal itself when you finish wrapping the clean edge over your roll.
• Continue forming rolls with the remaining ingredients and serve immediately or store in the fridge for later.
• Serve with the dipping sauce of your choice. I like to mix some soy sauce with a bit of lime juice and honey.

Notes

Eating vegetables with a wide variety of colors helps ensure you’re getting a wide variety of vitamins and antioxidants. 

• Red foods are often high in lycopene.
• Orange foods are often rich in beta carotene.
• Turmeric is rich in curcumin. 
• Green foods are often rich in chlorophyll.
• Red cabbage is rich in anthocyanins.

Feel free to vary the recipe with other colorful vegetables of your choice.

Some brands of bean vermicelli may turn orange rather than yellow when seasoned with turmeric.

Serve with the sauce of your choice. Homemade soy sauce is a great choice, as is sweet and sour sauce.  

Course Appetizers, Side dishes

Cuisine Asian

Keyword appetizers, spring rolls

Other Diets Dairy free, Gluten free, Vegan

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Serving: 1spring roll | Calories: 85kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 119mg | Potassium: 114mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1566IU | Vitamin C: 30mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg