With the weather finally starting to warm up and lots of lovely Spring veg on the way, now’s the time to ditch the heavy meals of Winter and go for something lighter.

Veggie spring rolls

These are a great fun and easy treat. You’ll need
  • Rice paper wrappers
  • Rice noodles
  • Selection of spring veg. We like, carrot, spring onions and red pepper
  • Sweet chilli dipping sauce
First cut the veggies up into thin strips.  Then add your rice noodles to a bowl of hot water to soften. In another bowl of warm to hot water, add one rice paper wrapper until it softens. Lay the paper out and add a thin line of veggies in the middle followed by a thin topping of noodles followed by a few more veggies. Then, fold the top half over tightly, hold the filling in and roll once before tucking the edges in and rolling again – it may be useful to watch a YouTube video to see how to do this. Once at the end of the roll, wet the final edge slightly with water on your fingers and leave to chill. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Red pepper sauce

This sauce goes with everything and is a great way of hiding hidden veg.  It’s also naturally sweet, which makes it feel like a treat. You’ll need
  • Roasted red peppers, either from a jar or you can make your own – just roast over the gas stove and add to a plastic bag to sweat, then remove the skins, seeds and membranes.
  • Garlic, shallots, carrot, celery stick, double cream and chicken or veggie stock.
First chop the carrot, celery and onion into a fine dice. Add to some oil and sauté until soft, then add the garlic and then the red peppers. Let everything cook down and soften before adding some hot stock, stir well and leave to simmer. Then add a couple of splashes of double cream and if you want, some chilli. Once everything is hot, pour into a blender and whizz until smooth.  If it’s too thick, add a little bit more hot stock. Great on pasta, over chicken or add more stock to make a great soup with some crusty bread.

Salmon and cream cheese wraps

You can use either smoked salmon or ordinary salmon in this easy recipe. You’ll need:
  • Wraps – wholemeal, garlic or plain, whichever you like.
  • Cream cheese
  • Dill
  • Spring onions
  • Lettuce
  • Salmon
First, either chop up or flake your salmon. Chop the cucumber into thin sticks and place on a paper towel.  Place that over a bowl with room below for the water to drop through. Sprinkle over a little salt and leave for the water to come out. When the water has dripped through squeeze out any final moisture and pat dry on a new paper towel. Lay out your wrap and spread over the cream cheese – you can use any type you want.  Add fresh dill or sprinkle a little dried dill. Top the cream cheese with a sprinkle of salmon, the cucumber and some strips of spring onion.  Then, just roll up. Once rolled tightly, cut into 1cm slices. Great as a snack or a fun lunch.