Make It Tonight - Sushi and Spring Rolls

Sushi with the girls

Last week I was blessed to have a night with some girlfriends to roll up some sushi, fry some veggie spring rolls and talk about life. The recipe we used is below.

Homemade sushi is a super easy thing to make. Since each roll is made individually, this is a good recipe to prepare with someone who just can't shake their meat habit... yet! You can use lots of different ingredients for your sushi, be creative and then share what you did, so we can all try it.

Vegetarian Maki (Rolls)

Ingredients

sushi rice

seaweed sheets

fillings, all sliced in long strips

soy sauce and wasabi for dipping

Some examples of fillings are - marinated tofu (baked), sweet potato (baked), cucumber (raw) , orange pepper (raw or roasted), asparagus (roasted or pan-fried), shredded carrots (raw or cooked), sunflower or bean sprouts.

Instructions

1. Add 1 cup sushi rice and 2 cups water to a rice cooker. Turn switch to "heat". Rice is ready when switch flips down to warm. To cook on the stove follow directions on package. This amount of rice makes 8 rolls.
2. Using a table spoon, scoop two heaping spoonfuls of rice onto seaweed sheet. Spread into a thin layer using the back of the spoon. Cover 2/3 of the seaweed.

3. Add toppings of choice in long line across the edge of the seaweed with rice on it.

4. Lift the edge of the seaweed and start to roll making sure to hold and tuck the line of ingredients into the sushi. Make sure to roll slowly so that the warm rice starts to heat the seaweed and make it more flexible. Also make sure to roll tightly - cutting into pieces will be much easier.

5. Once you have a nice long roll, using a very sharp knife, cut into small, bite-size pieces.

Serve with the spinach mushroom spring roll recipe below.

Sweet potato, tofu & asparagus sushi

Spinach & Mushroom Spring Rolls

Makes about 8 spring rolls

Ingredients

1 Tbsp tamari soy sauce

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 clove garlic, minced

3 green onions, chopped finely

One large bunch spinach, chopped (about 2 cups)

2 large carrots, grated (about 1 cup)

10 cremini mushrooms, chopped

Spring roll wrappers

***Note: to make gluten-free, use rice paper rolls

Canola or peanut oil for frying spring rolls

Sweet chili or plum sauce for dipping

Instructions

1. Microwave grated carrots for 2 minutes on high.

2. Meanwhile, warm oil, vinegar and tamari in pan at medium heat. Add onion and garlic, saute for 2 minutes. Add carrots, mushrooms and spinach. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes, until soft. Remove from heat.

3. Place about 2 heaping Tbsp of mixture in a thick line near the lower right corner as shown in picture above.
4. Fold right hand corner up and over mushroom mixture. Fold top right corner down to overlap spring roll paper. Fold bottom-left corner up to overlap spring roll paper. Press to moisten spring roll paper. Roll spring roll towards top-left corner. Hold for 30 seconds to allow heat to make the roll stick.

5. Fry spring rolls four at a time in hot canola or peanut oil until golden brown. Place on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

6. Serve warm with sweet chili or plum sauce for dipping.

Enjoy!

Much love and good eating,

Stephanie