California Quinoa (sushi) Rolls

Last Thursday I picked up my buying club order and brought home a 5 lb bag of white organic quinoa and also a 5 lb bag of organic red split lentils. They were on a special sale because they were packaged differently and considered a new product. I have had small quantities of these two products in my kitchen before, but I've never done anything seriously with them . After seeing Vicki's (Vegetarian Family Blog) Quinoa Salad I decided to give it a try. I made my quinoa in the rice maker. It took 20 minutes using a 1 part grain 2 part water ratio and salt. I am SO very impressed. This is a non allergen for my son and high in protein and has so many other benefits I don't know why I haven't used this grain sooner. I really like this stuff and these ecclectic sushi rolls I made with it.

RICE MAKER MIXTURE:
2/3 C quinoa grain, 3 Tbsp red split lentils (opt), 1/4 C seasoned rice vinegar (it's sweet), 3/4 tsp salt, about 1 cup diced veggies (4 shredded baby carrots, chopped canned mushrooms, and shallots sliced thin), and 1 1/3 C water. Click on and wait about 20 minutes, use when freshly done (while the grains are still somewhat wet and clumpy a little, after a bit they will separate to be more like a pilaf grain). Oh, don't use a cheap (non high temp) "rubber" spatula to get the grains out of the rice maker pot. I'm not telling why or posting pictures.


I was so happy to FINALLY pull out the bamboo mat that I got for Christmas last year (along with a book titled sushi for dummies). I scooped about 1/3 C quinoa grain onto my 1/2 sheet seaweed. Laid 2 thin sliced carrot, celery, and mushroom onto it and rolled. After making 4 rolls, slice into 1/4 - 1/2"pieces with a very sharp jagged knife. Here they are served with a side of my homemade pickled ginger (thanks for a food network pointer from amy's comfort kitchen) and Newman's Lite Sesame Ginger dressing. I really didn't think I liked this dressing until I dipped one of these into it and then decided to make a salad from the leftover quinoa. I added about 2 cups more chopped, shredded, or diced veggies to it and 1/4 cup of the newman's dressing. I will do this again. Good stuff, just don't expect to frig them and eat them later, they seem to dry out.

Homemade Pickled Ginger
2 cups rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup sugar (or sub 1/2 tsp KAL brand stevia extract powder)
1 small red beet, peeled and halved
2 bay leaves 1/2 tablespoon white peppercorns
2 cups ginger slices, peeled (1/8-inch thick)
Combine everything but ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add ginger and turn heat down to a simmer for 1/2 an hour. Pull off heat and let stand until cool, about 1 hour. Place in jar and refrigerate overnight. Will keep for 1 month.

Weird maybe, but I've been throwing some slices of this into my salad, topping with some lemon juice, sweetener, salt and pepper. I'm not raving about it, but it was pleasingly different. Maybe a little coconut will take this salad to the thai extreme.