Sushi Roll Edamame Salad

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this salad! Both John and I want to reduce our portion sizes this year and eat more salads. And, this is going to be easy and delicious now that we own Appetite for Reduction! There is an entire section dedicated to salads that are complete meals on their own, or could have tofu or a side veggie added, if you are really hungry or serving it to guests.  

My favorite part of this salad is the sliced pieces of a Nori sheet. Combined with rice, edamame, veggies, and a homemade Green Onion-Miso Vinaigrette, it is like eating an open faced sushi roll and getting salad greens at the same time!

The salad is also completely gluten-free.

Soba Noodle Sushi

I wanted a new sushi roll recipe to add to the usual variety and found this one at the RecipeZaar website. I substituted zucchini for cucumber and added carrots. The break from rice was excellent! The other rolls are from a past post.

Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls, Yamroom Rolls, and Spinach Sesame Rolls

I realized that last time I shopped for supplies to make sushi, I bought way too much stuff!!! So, I made another batch of vegan sushi but followed the recipe in Veganomicon for Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls, "Yamroom" Rolls, and Spinach Sesame Rolls. All three were fantastic and very unique.

One the side, blanched green beans with toasted hazelnuts, sesame seed oil, olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Vegan Sushi and Potstickers

The Potstickers are frozen, then fried in Safflower Oil. The sauce we used to dip them in is a tangy Dumpling Dipping Sauce. Both were purchased at Sunrise Asian Market off Willamette Street. I don't remember the brand name of the Potstickers, but I am pretty sure it is the green bag in the freezer if you click on the link!

For the sushi, our good friend Ananda taught us how to make delicious sushi rice, which is the key to successful rolls.
* 3 cups Niko Rice or anything that says sushi rice
* 3 1/4 cups water
* 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
* 3 tbsp sugar
* 1 tsp salt

PREPARATION:
After washing the rice well, cook it by pan or rice cooker. Prepare sushi vinegar by mixing rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small pan. Put the pan on low heat and heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool the vinegar mixture.
Spread the hot steamed rice into a large plate by spatula. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice and fold the rice very quickly. Be careful not to smash the rice. To cool and remove the moisture of the rice well, use a fan as you mix sushi rice. This will give sushi rice a shiny look. It's best to use sushi rice right away.

We purchased a Bamboo Mat to fold and wrap the rolls. The process was fairly simple:
1. Lay a piece of Nori on the bamboo mat.
2. Spread a thick layer of sushi rice onto the Nori. Leave about a 1/2 inch strip rice-free on the top of one side to use to seal the roll.
2. Carve a space in the rice down the center to fit the veggies in.
3. I put avocado and slightly steamed green beans and carrots in mine.
4. Start rolling, using the bamboo mat to tighten it as you roll.
5. Wet the rice-free strip of the Nori and seal the roll.
5. Slice the pieces with a wet knife.

On the side we had pickled ginger, Soy Sauce, and Wasabi to dip the rolls in. Please note the "tail" on the sushi roll that John made. Very creative :-)