What says “Let’s kick it!” more than using your fingers to feed each other? We love sushi on a hot date night, but would prefer to skip the mercury and lice of eating our sweet, intelligent sea animals. Resolution? Vegan sushi! Whether you hit your local sushi spot and ask them to make you an array of veggie sushi options (our local spot makes everything from shitake to asparagus sushi, and even uses brown rice on our request!) or DIY the ultimate one-bite food, this healthy, tasty, and light meal goes perfectly with too much sake and a good looking date looking to score.
Vegan Sushi (via vegcooking.com) 
- 6 cups water
- 3 cups short-grain brown or white rice
- 1 small cucumber
- 1 small zucchini
- 1/2 green bell pepper
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 2 small carrots
- 1/2 lb. fresh spinach
- 2/3 cup rice wine vinegar
- 6 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 package pre-toasted nori sheets
- Prepared wasabi paste
Bring the water to a boil. Add the rice, lower the heat, and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Seed and julienne the cucumber, and julienne the zucchini, bell peppers, and carrots. Steam these vegetables, along with the spinach, over boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Mix together the vinegar and brown sugar, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. When the rice is cooked, stir in the vinegar and brown sugar mixture, and cool to room temperature. When the vegetables and rice are cool enough to handle, lay out the first nori sheet. Place a handful of rice in the center of the sheet, moisten your hands with water, and gently but firmly press the rice to the edges of the sheet so that there is a thin layer of rice in a line on the sheet. Spread a bit of wasabi paste on top of the rice, approximately 1 1/2 inches from one edge of the nori sheet. Lay vegetable strips parallel to the wasabi in a width of approximately 1 inch along the wasabi line. Carefully wrap the closest edge over the vegetables, then roll the nori delicately but tightly. Seal by moistening the edge of the nori. Once the nori sheet is completely rolled, slice the roll into 6 pieces and arrange on a platter. Repeat with the remaining nori sheets. Top Tips (and One Culinary Clarification): If your nori rolls won’t stay rolled, try “sealing” the seam with a little brown rice syrup. To make rolling easier and prevent the nori sheets from tearing, use an inexpensive bamboo sushi mat-available in Japanese markets and many health food stores. Makes 6 rolls
Raw Sprouted Kamut Sushi Rolls
Raw and avoiding cooked rice? No worries! Here is Rawmazing.com‘s fantastic raw sushi recipe;
Susan (from rawmazing) says; The challenge is to find something to replace the rice but still have a texture that was close to what people are used to. I ended up sprouting Kamut, a wonderful grain that is full of protein and goodness. Processing it in the food processor gave it the texture that it needed to hold together. A sushi mat is needed to make this, but quite easy to use.
- 2 C Sprouted Kamut
- 1 T Nami Shoyu
- 1 T Toasted Sesame Oil
- Sunflower Sprouts
- 2 Carrots
- 1/2 Cucumber
- 1 Portobello Mushroom, marinated in nami shoyu and olive oil
- Avocado, Sliced
- 2 Seaweed Sheets
Step 1: Marinate the Mushrooms!Cut the portabello mushroom into slices about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Toss with 2 T of nami shoyu and 2 T oil and let sit for at least 1/2 hour. Step 2: Process the kamut, nami shoyu and toasted sesame oil in a food processor until the kamut starts to break apart. Set aside. Slice carrots and cucumber into match stick pieces, slice the avocado into 1/4 inch pieces. Set aside. Lay your sheet of seaweed on the sushi matt. Spread half the sheet with the kamut mixture. Place the avocado, carrots, cucumber, sunflower sprouts (not pictured) and mushrooms on top of the kamut. Using the mat, carefully and tightly, roll the seaweed into a sushi roll. Cut with a serrated knife.
We love the Jicama sushi from Pure Food and Wine (in NYC) so much, here’s Raw Epicurean‘s take on their classic;
Jicama Rice Shitake Sushi
Rice
- 3 medium jicama, peeled, roughly chopped.
Process chopped jicama in a food processor until it resembles small gains of rice. Squeeze out most of the excess liquid with clean hands or a cheesecloth.
Marinated mushrooms
- 3.5 ozs shiitake mushrooms
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
Stir together the soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, and ginger. Add the mushrooms and coat with the marinate. Marinate at least an hour. Slice larger mushrooms into approximately 1-inch strips.
Nori Squares
- 1 sheet untoasted raw nori [I used Maine Coast Sea Vegetable], cut into bit-sized squares
Take a sheet of untoasted nori and cut with a serrated knife [I used my Kyocera serrated ceramic knife] to cut along the perferations on the sheet. There should be seven nori strips, but I only use the five inner strips, saving the 2 outer strips for another use. Stacked the nori stripe atop each other, picked up the stack, fold it over and cut it in half at the fold with a pair of kitchen scissors. Fold the cut stack in half and cut in half. You should have 20 squares, approximately 1 1/2 inches.
- 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
- small piece fresh ginger, finely grated
- fresh chives, cut in half
Assembly: Shape the jicama rice into small bite-sized squares and place on a nori square. Top the rice with a slice or two of avocado, then a pinch of grated ginger, and then a slice or two marinated mushrooms. Garnish with fresh chives. Makes about 20 pieces.