Vegetarian Quinoa Sushi Rolls Recipes

VEGETABLE SUSHI ROLLS FOR ALL AGES

Steps:

• For the rice:
• Mix together vinegar, sugar, and salt.
• Rinse the rice in colander and drain. Put the rice and water in medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to very low and simmer, tightly covered. (For a good seal wrap the pan's lid tightly with a small kitchen towel and cover the saucepan. Make sure the towel's edges are folded up well away from the heat.) Cook until all the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat (don't uncover) and set aside for 10 minutes.
• Fluff the rice with a fork and transfer it to a large bowl. Add the vinegar mixture and toss with the rice, using a wooden spoon. Spread it out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Fan the rice continuously with a fan or magazine until cooled. Cover the rice with a damp towel.
• To assemble rolls:
• Place the sushi mat with the slats running crosswise directly in front of you on a clean work space. Lay a sheet of nori shiny-side down and lined up with the closest edge of the mat. Lightly moisten fingers with water, and evenly press about 1/4 of the rice onto the nori, with 1 1/2-inches uncovered at the far edge. Line up the fillings about 1-inch from the closest near edge, evenly across the rice. Leave 1-inch of rice uncovered at the far edge.
• Beginning with the near edge of the mat, tightly roll up the nori, rice, and fillings into a cylinder. Firmly tug on the rounded mat over the roll as you pull on the far edge of the mat to tighten the roll. Open the mat, dab unsealed edge of nori with a bit of water and roll the sushi forward to seal. Transfer the sushi to a plate and cover with damp paper towels. Repeat with remaining rice and fillings.
• Cut each sushi roll, crosswise, into 8 pieces with a sharp wet knife.
• Serve with bowl of soy sauce for dipping.

BROWN RICE & QUINOA SUSHI ROLLS

Steps:

• Rinse and drain your short grain brown rice. Add the rice to a medium size saucepan along with the dash of salt and 2 1/3 cups water. (Yes, that too much water for the rice, but you'll add the quinoa to it as well later on). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover the pan. Set your timer for 30 minutes.
• While the rice cooks you can mix up the vinegar(s), mirin, sugar and salt. I like to heat this up so that the sugar and salt fully dissolve. Set aside.
• Also while the rice cooks you can cut up your filling (grate the carrot, slice up the cucumber and avacado). Set aside.
• At the 30 minute mark, add in the quinoa and give it a quick stir. You may have to bring it back up to a boil to maintain the heat, then reduce back down to low and cover again. Set your timer for 15 more minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes both the rice and the quinoa should be tender and nicely cooked.
• Remove your rice mixture from the pan. You can turn it into a large mixing bowl, or even onto a cookie sheet. Spread it out so that it cools more quickly. Mix in the vinegar mixture, carefully folding it into the rice. I like to use a rice paddle (flat sort of spoon), fanning it out as you go to help the rice cool off. Adjust the seasoning if need be, adding more vinegar if you like. (I wouldn't add more salt because you generally serve with soy sauce).
• After about 10 minutes the rice should have cooled off quite a bit and be ready to work with. (You could prepare this far in advance, remembering it's best to work with the rice at room temperature).
• Cover up your sushi mat with plastic wrap or a clear plastic bag (I put it inside a large ziploc). Place a sheet of nori on your mat (shiny side down).
• Eyeball your rice mixture into 4 equal portions and place one portion on your sheet of nori. Pat it down with damp hands to cover the lower half of the nori sheet with rice. There is usually a picture on the back of the nori packaging to show you how to spread the rice and roll it up. I like to keep a mug of water nearby to dip my fingers into.
• If you wish, spread a thin layer of mayo across the rice, with the option of adding a little wasabi to the mayo. Another option is to sprinkle the rice with sesame seeds or Gomasio at this point. Place your fillings in a straight line across the middle of your rice. Lift the sushi mat and fold over and roll, to form a log. This might take practice if it's your first time, but basically connect the bottom of the sheet closest to you, to the top of the rice mixture, which should result in your filling being perfectly in the middle (or not! -- still tastes good!). Use the mat to help you tighten up the sushi log then release it.
• Repeat to use up all the rice and you should have 4 sushi logs. With a very sharp knife (I like a bread knife myself), cut each log into 6 or 8 equal pieces.
• Serve with wasabi, picked ginger and light soy sauce. Enjoy!