California Summer Rolls with Fresh Herbs

Start at the market. Walk past the tomatoes and stone fruit to the herb table where bundles of mint, cilantro, and Thai basil sit in jars of water, still alive. This is where summer rolls begin.

The rice paper is just a vessel. The real work happens in sourcing: carrots pulled yesterday, cucumbers still cool from morning harvest, avocados that yield to gentle pressure. Perfect ripeness is the whole point here. When your ingredients are right, the rolling becomes almost secondary.

I learned to make these in the early days at the restaurant, when we wanted something light for warm afternoons. The technique came from Vietnamese tradition, but we filled them with whatever the garden offered that week. Butter lettuce from Bob Cannard's farm. Herbs from the beds behind the kitchen. The rolls became a way to honor the season without any heat at all.

Every meal is a meaningful choice. These rolls ask very little of you in the kitchen, but they ask everything of your sourcing. Find farmers you trust. Buy what was picked this morning. Let things taste of what they are.