Yesterday, I took a quick look at the photos I recently posted on my Instagram account and was a bit horrified.
Wow, I've posted so many recipes involving dough lately.
On one hand, I’m a well-known fan of baking and dough (yes, even during a cutting phase), but on the other hand, I know that baking can be tricky and even fattening.
So, it’s time for a little variety.
Even though the Shavuot holiday is just around the corner and everyone is busy with cheesecakes or crazy quiches, I felt like sharing a recipe that can be served at the holiday dinner without being high in calories or carbs.
Something you can eat without guilt while still feeling festive.
What do you say to a Vegan Spring Roll with homemade soy cheese and root vegetables?
Let's start with the soy cheese.
Some of you might not know, but making soy cheese at home is one of the easiest things to do.
Don't believe me? Keep reading.
All you need is soy milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Almond milk or other plant-based milks won't work here because you need milk with high protein content for it to curdle.
If the texture reminds you of tofu, you're absolutely right—it's the same process as making tofu. I wrote about it extensively in this post.
The cheese you make yourself can be used to fill savory or sweet pastries (sorry, I can't help it), eaten as is with a spoon, or added to a large vegetable salad.
For this holiday, I'm rolling the soy cheese into rice paper with root vegetables. It's a colorful, cheerful, low-calorie, and gluten-free dish.
How to eat it?
2 rolls can be an excellent dinner solution, accompanied by a large salad when you're cutting or just want to be mindful of your intake.
Nutritional values per roll:
Vegan Spring Roll
Ingredients
For the Soy Cheese
- 2 Liters Unsweetened soy milk Alpro's red carton soy milk works perfectly because it is completely unsweetened.
- Juice from half a lemon
- Clean cheesecloth Regular cotton cloth or towels will not work.
For the Spring Roll
- 5 Rice paper sheets
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 cup Grated root vegetables - beet, kohlrabi, and carrot
- 1/2 Chopped green onion
- 1 Crushed garlic clove
- Juice from half a lemon
- Salt
Instructions
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Start with the soy cheese.
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Pour the soy milk into a pot and bring it to a boil.
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Turn off the heat and pour in the lemon juice.
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Stir it, and the magic happens—the soy milk curdles. Clumps will form (it might look like it’s gone bad, but it hasn’t—don't panic).
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Make sure to add the lemon juice while the milk is hot.
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Line a strainer with the cheesecloth and pour the soy milk curd over it.
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Drain the soy milk well through the cloth until most of the liquid is gone. You can use wooden spoons, something heavy, or hang it over the sink. Be careful—the cloth is hot.
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Afterward, open the cloth and... voila! You have cheese. Transfer it to a bowl. It might not look like much, but it tastes amazing.
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Season the cheese with lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic.
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To roll the spring rolls:
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Take one rice paper sheet and dip it in a bowl of water for 2-3 seconds. No more than that is needed.
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Spread the rice paper on a work surface and dab away excess water with a towel.
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Place a tablespoon and a half of soy cheese along with some root vegetables near the beginning of one side of the rice paper, but not directly on the edge. Leave a space of a few centimeters as shown in the picture.
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Fold the paper, starting from the two upper sides, as in the picture above.
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Then, roll from the side with the filling toward the other side.
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Serve with a sauce of lemon juice and a bit of olive oil.
