Monday, May 01, 2006

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.

10 comments:

Eat Peace Please said...

This looks absolutely amazing and you must have been reading my mind because I've been gathering new quinoa recipes lately. This is splendid (and I never say splendid!).

Anonymous said...

You made Sushi with quinoa? Now that is interesting. Looks yummy. I already have Nori, Whole Wheat Quinoa, the other stuff and a new bamboo mat. I am going to have to give this a try. Never thought to use quinoa. Never made Sushi either. lol

"That IS a lovely shawl...I'll take one in black and one in ivory, thank you" I bet we can guess why! LOL

Anonymous said...

Ooops, where is the red smilie when you need it? For some reason I copied the wrong quote. The shawl has to do with a crocheted pattern. Ok, here is what I meant to copy. Duh....

"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 bet we can guess why! LOL

primaryconsumer said...

That looks great! I love quinoa so very much.

Susan Voisin said...

What a great idea! I will have to try quinoa sushi soon.

PS--Newman's Sesame Ginger is my favorite store-bought dressing!

Dori said...

xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
xxxx
Shape of cheap spatula head after using it to take quiona out a hot rice maker with it.

Tee hee. Michelle, I thought you were being oddly nice by pretending not to notice my spatual comment and changing the subject completely.

Mindy T. said...

Hi Dori. Yum. I just might have to rummage around for my sushi mat tonight. Yay, quinoa! It's such a nice break from other quick-cooking grains (like bulgur and basmati rice) and I luv its unique texture ... Thanks for the inspiration!

http://mindycooks.blogspot.com

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

whata creative use of quinoa!

MeloMeals said...

Lovely! I laughed when I saw this.. guess how I came up with the quinoa sushi salad? I made the rolls first, and they fell apart and I didn't have any more nori sheets, only nori shreds..
thank you soo much for posting the pickled ginger recipe.. are you reading my mind? I've been meaning to find a recipe for it because every time I eat the stuff from a jar it grosses me out because of the preservatives.

Virginie said...

I didn't know we can cook quinoa with a rice cooker. You're very clever. And thank you very much for the recipe of the pickled ginger. It's surely more tasteful than the bought one. I must try it. Thank you for posting it.