Easy Sushi Bowl

This is a lazy person’s dinner. Minimal veggies to chop. Throw the rice in the cooker and walk away. Sit your lazy butt down outside with a beer and shell edamame while you stare off into space. Then, mix them everything together and much away. You don’t even have to use utensils if you don’t want to…

I crave sushi pretty much around the clock. I could eat sushi for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But rolling all those sushi rolls can be tiring and darn it, it can take forever! Ain’t nobody got time for that. There’s certainly nothing lazy about making sushi, so what’s a lazy person to do? Surely going to the store or a restaurant and buying some sushi is out of the question…that would involve putting pants on. Well never fear, the Easy Sushi Bowl is here!

Who needs utensils anyway? Or plates for that matter…maybe a couple napkins though.

Inspired by Veggie Wedgie

Makes 1 very large bowl of rice filling, serves about 4-6

• 2 cups dry rice of choice (I used 1/2 Jasmine and 1/2 Forbidden) 
• 1 large cucumber, diced small
• 2 small avocados, diced small
• 3 packages of edamame beans, shelled (3-9 oz. bags or 12 oz. shelled total)
• nori sheets
• sesame seeds for garnish
• For the sauce:
• 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger paste
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tsp. fresh wasabi paste
• 3 1/2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil

 

Start by cooking the rice according to the package. This, obvs, will vary by the type of rice used. Forbidden rice takes an ungodly amount of time, 35-45 minutes?! Ain’t nobody got time for that! I dunno. Use whatever rice you want. I would have liked to use my red rice because that’s my jam nowadays, but I needed to get of the rest of my other opened rice first!

While the rice is cooking, chop up the cucumber and avocado. Mix the ingredients for the sauce together in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add the veggies and let them marinate while the rice is cooking.

Now, go find some poor soul to help you shell all those damn edamame pods. This is important. You can’t be shelling them all yourself, ain’t nobody got time for that! (I feel I must redirect you to this) Okay you can do it all yourself, if necessary. Don’t worry, it only took me like 10 minutes.  Todd helped at the end when he got home. And yes, I did sit outside in the sun to shell them. In my lawn chair. In my nightgown. With a beer. You don’t think I make these things up do you? Anyways, the time you’re done shelling, the rice will be all done and ready to rock.

Combine the rice, sauce, veggies and edamame in a large bowl and give it a good mix up.

And now, the best part! This dish can be eaten a variety of ways. Make a handroll. Put a scoop of the filling in a bowl and add cut-up strips of nori. Or, make actual proper sushi rolls. Have it however you like!

My ever-present Sous Chef Bob, sticks his tongue out at the heat.

You may also enjoy:

Green Curry with Summer Squash and Fresh Peas

Roasted Corn & Spicy Lime Soup

So it was 85 F yesterday when I left work. 80-freaking-5 degrees, people! Now, there are many reasons why I live in Alaska, but a very major one is the fact that I don’t have to endure the sweltering, awful heat. I’ve never done well with it. I’m quite pale and definitely possibly allergic to the sun and I’d much rather be too cold as opposed to too hot. Have you ever watched Game of Thrones? You know the Wildlings? That’s me. I’m Ygritte…but maybe not as pretty and I don’t have red hair. Otherwise though, you know. I told Todd it was time to move North…yes, more North. The leaves aren’t even all the way out yet, Alaska! 85 degrees. What is happening!?

Summer is coming.

I’m don’t mean to complain. The evenings are nice, but the house is 80 F when I get home! Bleck. Too hot for me! So anywho, I knew  I wanted something cold for dinner. I also happened to have seven, yes seven, grilled corn cobs in their husks just hanging out in the fridge. We brought them to a BBQ over the weekend, but the corn was put on the grill later in the evening and everyone had already eaten, and sadly, the corn was forgotten. And thus, it made perfect sense to make Chilled Roasted Corn & Spicy Lime Soup, but really you can have it hot too. I hear it’s a-storming in the states (also known as the lower-48, it’s what we Alaskans call the Continental US). Maybe it’s more hot soup weather down that way.

This soup is creamy and thick, and slightly spicy due to the chili paste with a boost of zest from the fresh lime juice. The kernels can be blended very well to make a smooth soup or just barely to lend to a more chunky soup. Also, it can be served chilled or hot! This recipe makes a lot of soup so feel free to cut the recipe in half or use the full recipe and just freeze the leftovers for later.

Inspired by The View From Great Island

Makes about about 12 cups

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 small yellow onions, chopped
• 3-5 red swiss chard leaves (or kale, spinach), chopped
• 7 roasted ears of corn, kernels sliced off
• 1 tsp. ground fresh chili paste
• juice from 2 limes
• 1 15 oz. can of full-fat coconut milk
• generous pinch of salt
• ground black pepper
• cilantro for garnish (optional)

 

A quick note – If your corn isn’t already cooked, it can be grilled or baked in a 400 degree oven for about 35-45 minutes, with husks on.

Back to business. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-low. Add the chopped onions and saute for about 5 minutes, or until they begin to brown. Add the washed and chopped swiss chard leaves and saute a few more minutes.

Slice off the kernels of the roasted corn. If you’ve ever had braces this will bring back painful memories. Try to fight back the tears and think of your now perfectly straight teeth as you slice away.

In a large blender, add 4 cups of cold water. Add all the kernels and blend, blend, blend. You can process it until smooth or just very slightly to have a chunky soup. Pour the contents into a very large bowl or soup pot. Now, add 2 cups of water, the onions and swiss chard as well as the chili paste and coconut milk to the blender and blend until smooth. That’s a big ol’ blender full o’ corn right there.

Add the blender contents into the same large bowl or soup pot and whisk to combine. Add sea salt and ground black pepper to taste and garnish with cilantro .

If you desire the soup hot, then just heat it up in the pot. If you’d like it chilled, pour into as many bowls as you are serving, cover them, and let chill for at least 30 minutes. Or just cover the whole pot and refrigerate until ready to serve.

You may also enjoy:

Zesty Coconut-Lime & Tofu Soup

And completely unrelated…check out my new booties I just got! They were too cute not to share…

Sweet Potato, Kale and Sausage with Quinoa

I’d never bought vegan Italian sausage before, so you can imagine my utter delight when I found some by sheer accident in the organic freezer section. Not only did it exist (in Alaska) but it was on sale from $6.99 to $2.99! Woot, woot! I had also bought a butt-load of kale that I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with…I just knew I needed to buy it and eventually, we needed to eat it.

The combination of sausage and kale reminded me of one of my favorite dishes from my pre-vegan days. Sweet Potato, Kale and Sausage Stir-fry. So, of course I had to make it again, but this time vegan. I knew I wanted it a little more robust so I decided quinoa would be a great addition. To make it vegan, I just replaced the beef, chicken, pork or whatever it was (I don’t have a clue) Italian sausage with a vegan sausage made from veggies and grains and voila, vegan sweet potato, kale and sausage was back! And better than ever.

Inspired by Guilty Kitchen

Makes 4 large servings

• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 small yellow onions, diced small
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large sweet potato or yam, diced
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
• 3 pre-cooked vegan Italian sausages, sliced
• 12 oz. of kale leaves or 1 very large bunch, de-stemmed and chopped
• large pinch of sea salt
• sprinkle of black pepper
• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 2 cups water

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Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large dutch oven or heavy soup pot with a heavy lid. Next, add the chopped onions and saute, uncovered, for about five minutes or until them begin to brown. Add the sweet potatoes, garlic and thyme and saute for another five minutes or so. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the water and mustard well then add to the pot. Stir to combine. Turn the heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally so the bottom doesn’t burn or stick.

Okay, while that is doin’ it’s thang…get out your quinoa! Make sure to rinse the quinoa, it can be bitter if it’s not rinsed. Spray the bottom of a small pan with nonstick cooking spray and add two cups of water as well as the quinoa. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to low and simmer for 15 minutes, covered, or until all water is gone.

After the sweet potato mixture has finished cooking for 20 minutes, add the sausage and kale over low heat. A note about the kale: to de-stem just hold the stem end with one hand and pull the leaves in the opposite direction with one swoop. Bam! De-stemmed in a pinch. By the way, my dutch oven is very large and I still had to add the kale in two batches, so don’t be discouraged by this, though it may take a few more minutes. It’s a lot of kale! Kale is the Plant King though, so don’t be afraid of the large amount. It may seem like a lot but it really wilts down to a more manageable size. Just keep stirring and pushing it towards the bottom of the pot. Once all the kale is wilted season with salt and pepper and add the cooked quinoa. Stir to combine.

Top with diced ripe avocado, sprinkle with paprika and enjoy.