Fresh Greek Shrimp Summer Rolls with Garlic-Herb Dipping Sauce

If you like Greek salad as much as I do, you are going to love this handheld version with shrimp and dressing on the side. These may sound like a lot of work, but they go together so fast and, if you use precooked shrimp, there is no cooking involved. Fresh and light, these are the perfect summer dinner appetizer.  Every ingredient here is just a guide-feel free to leave out anything you don’t particularly care for.

Ingredients (serves 6 as an appetizer, 3 as a main course):

Dipping Sauce:

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 fat cloves of garlic, minced

½ teaspoon anchovy paste (optional, but it is so good!)

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

½ to 1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried marjoram

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon lemon zest

Rolls:

6 spring roll wrappers

Warm water

Filling:

1 cup baby spinach leaves

12 fresh mint leaves (optional)

20 or so fresh oregano leaves (optional)

½ of a small red onion, thinly sliced into half moons

½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 small red pepper, thinly sliced

½ of a medium cucumber, peeled and cut into thin strips about 4 inches long

½ of a carrot, julienned

2 teaspoons nonpariel (small) capers

½ pound shrimp, cooked and cut in half lengthwise (from back to front instead of down the middle)

Directions:

Dipping Sauce: Make this a few hours ahead, if possible, to let all the flavors marry. Just combine everything from the olive oil through the lemon zest, cover and let rest at room temperature until you are ready to serve.

Rolls: Put very warm water into a wide, shallow bowl or frying pan. Quickly dip one spring roll wrapper at a time in the warm water, shake off excess water and place it on a clean work surface. Mine were sticking to my plastic work surface, so I sprayed it with just a touch of canola oil spray. Worked like a charm.

Wrap it up: On the side of the wrapper nearest you, place a few spinach leaves. Top the spinach with 2 mint leaves, some fresh oregano, a few red onion slices, a bit of chopped olives and then a bit of feta cheese.

Next to that, about in the middle of the wrapper, place some red pepper slices and top them with a few slices of cucumber and carrots.  

On the side of the wrapper farthest from you, place several of the shrimp slices and a few capers in a row, orange side down.

To fold, tightly roll the end of the wrapper nearest you over the veggies and cheese. Roll once more over the cucumbers and red peppers. Fold the sides in and roll once more over the shrimp. Turn it over and admire your handiwork. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Then serve whole or cut in half with the dipping sauce.