Rachel's Loaded-Veggie Sushi Rolls

Saturday night we decided would be sushi night! But I really had an urge to try making sushi myself! I got a few pointers from VegWeb's Healthy Avocado Sushi with Brown Rice on how to make the sushi rice. Healthy Vegan Recipes has a great video which shows you how to roll sushi and I recommend watching it if you're a beginner! Here's what I came up with!

Rachel's Loaded-Veggie Sushi

Ingredients

• 1 cup short-grain brown rice
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
• 5 nori (seaweed) sheets
• Assorted vegetables*: Avocado, thinly sliced; Scallions; Red bell pepper, thinly sliced; Bean Sprouts; Zucchini, julienned; Carrot, julienned
• Low-sodium soy sauce (optional)
• Pickled ginger (optional)
• Wasabi (optional)

Directions

1. In a small pot, bring the rice and water to a boil. Once boiling, stir rice once, cover pot and reduce heat to a simmer for 50 minutes.
2. When rice is finished cooking, transfer to a bowl. Gently stir in the vinegar until it is well-mixed into the rice (rice will stick together). Place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl and allow rice to sit for 10 minutes, letting it cool, before making the sushi rolls.
3. Here is where the video will really help you: Using a bamboo mat, place a nori sheet on top of it, add 1/5 of the rice on 2/3 (closest to you) of the sheet. On top of the rice (on only the closest part of the nori sheet to you), stack the vegetables in a thin row on top of each other. Take end of nori closest to you, and begin to roll up and over the vegetables. Use the bamboo mat to tighten that portion of the roll. Continue to roll (with the use of your bamboo mat) until the entire sheet is rolled up. Place on a plate, allowing the rice to soften the nori, while you continue making the next sushi rolls.
4. When all 5 sushi rolls are made, starting with the first sushi roll made, wet a knife and cut each roll into 6-8 pieces. Wetting the knife aids in the slicing process or else the rice will stick to the knife, making it difficult to cut.
5. Serve with soy sauce, ginger and wasabi. Yum!

*Note: I did not put amounts for the vegetables I used because it is really all your own preference! You really don't need a lot of veggies to make one roll, let alone the 5 rolls I made, so I highly recommend these few friendly tips before preparing your own sushi and deciding on amounts:

1. Warning: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO STUFF YOUR SUSHI ROLL. Stuffing your sushi roll makes it very difficut to roll up and slice. Yes, I am speaking from experience but was not about to take a picture of the disaster!
2. Wrap sushi roll as tight as possible with bamboo mat. The tighter your roll, the easier it is to slice.
3. Wet knife before slicing sushi roll into pieces (the rice sticks to the knife, making it difficult to cut).
4. Don't forget to have fun!

Enjoy!