Quinoa Sushi With Red Beet & Avocado (Vegan)

Veggie Sushi, oh Veggie Sushi! I’m such a big fan of yours!

 

 

The first time I ate Sushi, it was an avocado roll and I actually didn’t like it at all. That must have been 10 years ago and it took me about 7 years to try Sushi again. Amazingly I couldn’t get enough of it the second time around. I’m so glad I gave it another chance! Since then I’m hooked and I’m glad that some of my friends share the same Sushi addiction. It became quite a habit to do “Sushi Nights”, where we order big plates of veggie sushi and  eat it while watching movies. That could look something like this: (isn’t our company adorable?)

 

 

Even though it’s fun to simply order Sushi, I also love making my own Sushi. Especially since the possibilities are nearly endless. You can get so creative with vegetables and even replace the rice with other ingredients. I’m just getting started to try all kinds of combinations.

 

 

The recipe that I want to share today uses quinoa instead of white rice, which is a great way to make Sushi even more healthy. Quinoa is a great source in protein, calcium and magnesium and is very high in fiber (just to name a few benefits).

 

 

The consistency of quinoa Sushi is a bit more fluffy than the more compact rice. Different but good different! And I love the beautiful pinkish color of the quinoa after I cooked it with pieces of red beets.

So here is the recipe:

 

Quinoa Sushi With Red Beet & Avocado (Vegan)

Makes 4-5 rolls (about 24-30 pieces)

• 1 medium sized red beet (about 200g)
• 1 cup quinoa (+ 1/2 tsp salt + 1  1/2 cups water)
• 2-3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1-2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp cane sugar (or other sweetener)
• 1 avocado
• 5 nori sheets
• some onion sprouts (optional)
• soy sauce to serve
• wasabi to serve

Peel red beet and cut in thick slices. Wash quinoa in a sieve under running water (this takes away any bitterness) and place in a medium sized pot. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1  1/2 cups of water and bring to boil. Add red beet slices for coloring and let simmer for about 20 minutes, until quinoa is ready and no liquid is left. Stir the quinoa and beets for a while so that the quinoa get evenly colored. Take out the red beet slices, shake of the quinoa or hold under running water.

 

 

While quinoa is still warm, add sugar and vinegar and let cool down.

Meanwhile, slice the avocado like this. And also slice the red beet slices into small sticks. When quinoa is cooled down, check it’s consistency. If it’s not sticky enough, you can add 1-2 tbsp of water. Now you can start making the sushi rolls.

 

I think it’s actually the easiest to watch someone roll a sushi roll, rather than reading how to do it. There are a lot of videos on youtube, like this one (just fast forward to minute 6:20).

Place the nori sheet on the rolling mat (shiny side to the bottom) and spread enough quinoa on it to cover the nori sheet, leaving a 1-inch border at the far edge. Arrange your filling on the other side.

 

 

Now start rolling up the sheet tightly with the sushi mat to form a neatly packed roll, before you roll it completely, spread some water on the 1-inch border, so that it will seal up nicely. Squeeze firmly to make sure the sushi roll is tightly packed  but be careful not to squeeze too hard. Now you can cut the roll with a sharp knife in as many pieces as you wish. I made 6 pieces of every roll. Place some sprouts on top of the slices (optional) and serve with soy sauce and wasabi.

 

 

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