Butternut Squash Spring Rolls

I've been itching to try the butternut squash spring rolls from Veganomicon for a while. I bought a squash last time I was at the grocery store. Something everyone should know about me and keep it in their heart of hearts forever is that I do not generally like squash. However, it's a texture issue more than a taste issue, and when prepared correctly I enjoy the sweet winter squashes quite a bit. Summer squashes and other squishy things, like eggplant and zucchini, require special magic to make them edible to me.

It wasn't until after I got the squash peeled and seeded that I realized it had to be cut into 1/4" cubes. That was tedious, but the result was worth it. I gorged myself on like six of these bad boys. I also replaced the cilantro with Thai basil, because I recently was tricked into hating cilantro. A friend of mine who used to work in the restaurant industry said that there are two kinds of people: those who love cilantro and those who think it tastes like soap. I couldn't imagine what he was talking about as I've always loved cilantro. Last week I made a big pot of green curry and chopped up a bunch of cilantro to serve with it. I took one bite and thought, in horror, "Holy shit! It DOES taste like soap!" I haven't been able to eat it since. He says it's supposed to be genetic, so maybe it tasted like soap all along and I never really noticed it.

I also replaced the vermicelli with a broader rice noodle, because I had some in my kitchen already, and the spicy oil or whatever with Sriracha.

While I've made spring rolls with rice paper before, I think the olive oil on the squash, and my fingers, made these especially difficult to get tight. I may use less if I make these again.