Veggie Sushi at Home
If your new years’ resolutions include saving money on meals and cutting down on meat products, some veggie sushi might be just what you need. If you also want to teach your kids how to cook and appreciate healthy meals, then, booyah.
My 9-year-old has gained an appreciation for sushi, so I added it to this week’s semi-vegetarian menu. I decided it was time for her to try making something entirely on her own, so once I had made two rolls, she got to do some all by herself. She did great.
Big Kid sushi, coming to a plate near you! Or, at least, near me.
This recipe is particularly useful as a last-minute choice, given you’ve stockpiled some sticky rice and nori, because you can use just about anything in your veggie drawer. I planned ahead and bought cream cheese, but you could use tofu (as a vegan option, thx Jeff Hicks) or leave it out altogether.
Veggie Sushi
- Sushi Rice (see recipe below)
- 3-4 sheets nori (sushi-making seaweed paper)
- 1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin sticks, about 1/8″ square and 4″ long
- 1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into thin strips (Buy jarred or do it yourself)
- 1/4 cucumber, cut into thin strips
- 2 oz. cream cheese or extra firm tofu, cut similarly to above
- Sesame seeds, toasted or not, optional
You could spend all day freaking out about technique on this one. Or, you can do like we did and just wing it based on what you think you may or may not have seen before. Either way, it will taste pretty good, even if it’s not as pretty as what you bought at the sushi joint in town.
I’ve found that breaking the full-size nori sheets in half makes a prettier roll, at least for beginners like me. Wrap your bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap and place the half-sheet on top, near the edge closest to you.
Oh, yeah, the water. Keep a small bowl of water near your work area, or you will be, as they say in Japan, sorry.
Wet your hands and get some of your finished sushi rice, then carefully spread it in a thin layer across your nori. I say carefully because it will generally STAY where you put it. If you want your rolls to be nori-side out, leave about a half-inch uncovered across the top for a seal. (If you prefer rice-side out, this isn’t necessary. Now’s the time to flip the whole thing over on your mat. Not you, nori-side-out people.)
This was our first roll of the night, with a sprinkle of bonito (dried fish) flakes. Meh. Also found it easier to place the cream cheese first.
About halfway down, lay down a solid line of your cream cheese or tofu. On top of this, start laying down your slices of veggies. Less is more, as too much will make the roll impossible to, well, roll. I use about four pieces of each item, slightly overlapped.
And now, the rolling. Don’t freak.
Okay, so Big Kid rolled hers from the top. No big deal.
Wet your fingertips and dampen the upper edge of the nori to act as a seal. Using the bamboo mat underneath, roll up your, er, roll, snugly but not with too much force. When the mat reaches all the way around, be sure to move it outward and not roll it up with your sushi! Oh, heck, just watch a video somewhere and see.
Once you’ve rolled it all the way, use the mat to give the roll a firm hug. It’s about to be your best friend! Unroll and move it to a cutting board.
With a VERY sharp, dampened knife, cut the roll exactly in half. Put the two halves against each other and do it again, so you have four equal pieces. Dampen and cut again with sets of two until you have eight equal pieces.
Serve proudly with soy sauce (use tamari if you’re gluten free) and chopsticks.
Sushi Rice
- 2 cups sticky rice (also called sushi rice)
- 2 cups cold water
- 2-3 T. rice wine vinegar (I like mine more tart)
- 1 T. rice wine (mirin), optional
- 1 T. sugar
- 1 T. kosher salt
You can find sushi rice in larger grocery stores in the Asian foods area, or at Asian specialty stores. In the Little Rock area, you can’t go wrong with Sam’s Oriental on University. Just don’t use regular rice, or you will be sorely disappointed!
Check the bag of rice to see if your variety requires rinsing, as many newer ones don’t. Unless it says not to, you’ll need to rinse it in a wire colander under cold water until the water runs clear. Place the rice and the 2 cups water in a rice cooker, or in a medium saucepan brought to a boil, then a low simmer and covered until done (check your bag for cooking times, but should be about 15 minutes).
While the rice cooks, place the vinegar, rice wine (if using), sugar and kosher salt in a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. If you’re using the rice wine, cook until it simmers just a bit to cook off most of the alcohol. Otherwise, all you need is enough heat to melt the salt and sugar into the vinegar.
When the rice is fully cooked, spread it out on a sheet pan. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice, occasionally “cutting” the rice with a butter knife or spatula to mix it in without damaging the grains. Allow the rice to cool completely on the pan. (If you want go all traditional or if you’re in a hurry, you can use a folding fan to help the cooling process along, a fun task for the kids.)
Bonus Recipe for Ghetto-Fab Fried Rice: Scramble and fry an egg, remove from pan and chop it into tiny bits. (Or finely dice some tofu, season with tamari and sauté.) Cut your leftover veggie strips into tiny cubes and sauté in a tiny bit of sesame oil or broth. Add your leftover sushi rice, the egg, and some soy sauce or tamari. Stir. If you can be bothered, add some sliced green onion. Delish.
Vegetarian Adzuki Bean Stew and Potatoes
I love adzuki beans. L-O-V-E.
Never heard of them? I hadn’t either, until I did a special elimination diet a few years ago that focused on lots of legumes and vegetables. (I may be going back to that soon, at least temporarily; more on that later.) They’re extremely flavorful and packed with all kinds of nutrition.
During our recent kitchen construction, I bought a bag of adzuki at Whole Foods, hoping to use them in my slow cooker. I never did. Until today!
Here’s the recipe I created, adapted from a few things I found online. The potato twist came from a quick Twitter convo with famous slowcooker maven Stephanie O’Dea. I ended up using my divided crock, because my cooker is huge and the recipe isn’t. I had already learned from Stephanie that a crock must be at least half-full to cook properly. So…was it OK to only use one side?
She said yes (I love Twitter), but said, why waste the space? Throw some potatoes or corn in there. I had just picked up some nice, waxy reds at the Argenta Certified Arkansas Farmers’ Market, so why not?
Vegetarian Adzuki Bean Stew and Potatoes
- 1 1/2 c. dry adzuki beans, sorted
- 2 fresh tomatoes, concasse (see instructions)
or 1 can diced tomatoes, drained - 1 large or 2 small-med leeks
- 1 small onion, small dice OR 2 T. dehydrated onion flakes
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and julienne cut
- 2 T. soy sauce or Bragg’s Aminos
- 3 T. miso paste OR 1 cube vegetable/mushroom boullion
- 1 tsp. sriracha sauce
- 1 T. paprika
- 2 T. AP flour
- 3-4 c. water or vegetable broth
- 4 medium waxy red potatoes
If you have a large, divided slow cooker, you can prepare both the stew and potatoes at the same time. If not, you can cook the potatoes in the microwave or in the oven just before eating.
Soak the beans overnight before cooking. There is some dissent about whether or not adzuki require this, because they are very small; I wasn’t sure, so I soaked them. Rinse the soaked beans and put them in the slow cooker.
If using fresh tomatoes (and if it’s summer, I hope you are; if it isn’t, I hope you’re not), you’ll do a fancy trick called concasse. Mark an “x” in the bottom of each tomato with a sharp knife. Bring a small pot of water to the boil, and prepare a small bowl of ice water. Carefully place the tomatoes in the boiling water for one minute, then remove with a slotted spoon and put them in the ice water. You should now be able to easily peel the tomatoes. Peel them, cut them in half or quarters, and squish out all the seeds and gushy stuff with your thumbs. Fun! Cut the remaining tomato pulp into dice. Add this (or your slacker canned/diced toms) to the slow cooker.
Split the leeks lengthwise and cut into 1/4″ pieces. Place these pieces in a wire mesh strainer or colander and work the layers as apart as you can, then rinse and drain. Sand and dirt hide in these layers, so be sure to get it all out!
Add the onions, garlic, carrots, soy sauce, miso or bouillon, sriracha, paprika and flour. Stir to coat, then add enough water or stock to cover the mixture by about a half inch.
If you’re slow-cooking the potatoes in the other side of a divided crock, cover each one with foil, and put them in the other side with no liquid. If you’ve only got starchy, baking-style potatoes, that would be fine, too; just serve as a baked potato with the stew over the top.
Turn your cooker to low and cook for 8 hours or so. It’s the “or so” that I love about slow cookers…a little more or less is fine. Just check that the beans are done, and you’re golden.
When you’re ready to serve, remove the potatoes and allow to cool just a bit. Then slice them (for waxies) or split open the tops (for starchies), sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, and ladle the stew over the top.
Lest you think I was stingy with my stew in the above photo, it was just to keep it pretty. Hubby’s was so slathered you couldn’t see the plate, much less the potato. I ate mine (above) with an extra side-cup of stew.
Enjoy!
Vegetarian (or not) Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas
I was looking for a quick dinner one day last week and came up with this recipe. I got all the way done with the filling — then with no meat, mainly due to lack of planning and time — and changed course. I knew the hubs would whine if there was no dead animal involved.
So I scrounged the fridge for something I didn’t have to thaw or cook, and hark: pheasant sausage. Weird, but qualifies as dead animal. I crumbled a few pieces into the mix, and voilå. You can do the same with whatever red meat you have on hand…ground beef or stew meat, deer meat or other wild game, etc.
Honestly, by the time it was done, it was so yummy I’m not sure hubs would have noticed. Feel free to try it either way.
Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas
- 6-8 flour tortillas, enchilada size
- 1 cup cooked short-grain brown rice (found in the healthy foods section of most supermarkets)
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (or equivalent amount of soaked, cooked beans)
- 1 large can red enchilada sauce, mild
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/8 tsp. (a sprinkle) cayenne or chipotle powder
- 2 T. dried onions
- 1 garlic clove, pressed OR 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
(May substitute prepared taco seasoning for above spices) - 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or queso blanco or queso fresco from your grocer’s dairy Mexican foods)
Cook the rice according to the package directions, but just a minute shy of the texture you would normally shoot for. (Remember that you’re using one cup of cooked rice, not dry…start with one cup of dry and save the extra for something else.)
Remove all but one cup of cooked rice from the pan. Add the black beans and about one-third of the large can of sauce. Add the seasonings and onions/garlic if using, and warm the whole thing up slowly over medium heat while stirring. (Be careful not to break up the beans while stirring!)
As the mixture warms, the rice will absorb some of the sauce and the mixture will tighten up. Keep warming and adding more sauce, if necessary, until you get a good, thick consistency for filling the tortillas.
Spray some cooking spray into the bottom of a large, rectangular baking dish and pour a tiny bit of sauce in the bottom, about 1/4 cup.
Warm the tortillas in the microwave or oven until pliable. Using a plate or cutting board as a work surface, lay down one tortilla and spoon about 1/4 cup of filling into it. Roll the tortilla and place, seam down, into the baking dish. Repeat until the dish is full, then pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle cheese over this and cover with foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
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As you can see, this could easily please your vegan or vegetarian friends…just leave out the cheese (or use a soy substitute) and you’re golden. (But make sure the tortillas are free of lard if you’re feeding a vegan.) Sensitive to wheat? No problem; use corn tortillas.
Dang, just realized I don’t have a photo of this. We ate it all up days ago. Sorry.
Enjoy, and stay tuned. I’ve got more…homemade macaroni and cheese, a new recipe from Chef Shane, and maybe even my Thanksgiving menu.
Happy cooking!
