Black Bean Sweet Potato Spring Rolls

You may remember the story of our hilarious provisioning trip when we arrived at River Heads for the very first time. While we were looking around the very small and overpriced shop, I was trying to find something fun for a treat. The best I could come up with was Spring Roll Wrappers. 

Provisioning results.

Once a very long time ago, I had actually tried to use spring roll wrappers. Turns out in this instance, what I was actually trying to make was rice paper rolls, I just didn't know it at the time and so upon steaming them, the wrappers disintegrated and they became a sloppy mess. In my defense, this was so long ago that googling it wouldn't have been a thought. I was determined to succeed this time. We did try some traditional spring rolls with a cabbage filling but we fell in love with this black bean sweet potato filling. This would also be an awesome filling for quesadillas as well. Unlike spring roll wrappers, tortillas don't need to be refrigerated and will keep indefinitely which makes them more desirable on board. You can also relatively easily make your own tortillas. The spring roll wrappers do keep easily in the fridge though. These spring rolls are really easy to make as I had cooked the beans and sweet potato for something else and intentionally made extra for these, so it was just a matter of mixing everything together.

I tend to overstuff everything, rice paper rolls, tacos, burritos, you name it so these were no different. This just made them a little more tricky to roll but rolling them is essentially the same as a burrito. See notes below about how I roll them. We tried baking them in the oven but this took longer and we ultimately preferred the texture of pan frying them. These topped with some creamy chipotle sauce and we were in heaven.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Spring Rolls

2 c sweet potato; cubed & cooked
1 1/2 c black beans; cooked, drained & rinsed
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chili
Salt, to taste
8 spring roll wrappers
Oil, for pan frying
Creamy Chipotle Sauce
Cilantro/Coriander, to garnish

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl.
2. Roll spring rolls. (See notes below)
3. Coat hot pan lightly with oil. Cook spring rolls on both sides until crispy ~ 3-5 min each side.
4. Serve with Creamy Chipotle Sauce and Coriander, and Enjoy!

To roll Spring Rolls:
- Remember: I am no expert at this, and I'm sure there are better, more traditional ways to do it but this is how I did it.
- Make sure you keep the wraps from drying out. Take out the quantity of wraps that you are going to use and put the unused ones back in the fridge right away. Cover the ones to be used with a damp cloth or paper towel. 
- Place one wrapper out diagonally in front of you. Place a couple of spoonfuls of mix in the middle of the wrapper. Tuck the corner closest to you over and under the filling. Tuck in the two edges and roll away from you, keeping the edges tucked in, until the roll is complete.
- Keep a small bowl of water nearby. Use it to wet your fingers to dampen the wrapper in order to seal the roll.