Brown Rice Vegetable Sushi - Act II

Tonight I made sushi for my husband and I and my elderly parents. This was a bit of risky move since my 80-year-old parents have never sushi to my knowledge. Surprisingly they seemed to enjoy it. They really enjoyed the pickled ginger tonight, which was most surprising.

I am not going to post the complete recipe and instructions again since I posted that here yesterday. I am going to post recipes for the additional fillings and a different dipping sauce.

This time I used arugula in some of the rolls and intentionally let it come out the ends to make a pretty presentation without having to cut off the very end of the sushi and throw it away. I also included avocado slices in some of the sushi tonight. I made a shitake mushroom roll that was very good and baked some tofu to include in other rolls. I did come up with a sauce that is lower in sodium, but definitely not traditional. The sauce was pretty good you may want to give it a try.

Mirin Glazed Shitake Mushrooms
Enough for 1 whole sushi roll

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh shitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
2 – 3 tablespoons mirin
½ tablespoon liquid aminos
1 clove garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a skillet and cook until the mushrooms and soft and the liquid has formed a glaze.

Use this in the middle of the sushi roll with bell pepper strips and fresh greens.

These mushrooms would be great on their own or on top of a bowl of rice. The taste is sweet and salty and surprisingly addictive. Once I tried them I wished that I had made more.

Nutritional Information (entire recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 34.57
Calories From Fat (2%) - 0.57
Total Fat - 0.15g
Saturated Fat - 0.02g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium 483.38mg
Potassium - 369.12mg
Total Carbohydrates - 18.4g
Fiber - 1.95g
Sugar - 1.48g
Protein - 1.55g


Baked and Marinated Tofu
Enough for 6 whole sushi rolls

Ingredients:

14 ounce package firm tofu
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon liquid aminos
black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the wine vinegar, garlic, and liquid ingredients and set aside.

Slice the tofu into long sticks and place it in the wet ingredients in a baking pan. Turn the tofu to coat all the side and top with freshly ground black.

Bake the tofu uncovered until the liquid is absorbed and the tofu is beginning to get firm (about 45 minutes).

Cool the tofu so you can pick it up and place it the sushi rolls.

Nutritional Ingredients (entire recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 369.85
Calories From Fat (46%) - 171.73

Total Fat - 23.15g
Saturated Fat - 2.15g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 994.47mg
Potassium - 750.23mg
Total Carbohydrates - 21.57g
Fiber - 1.65g
Sugar - 2.01g
Protein - 39.44g


Sesame Dipping Sauce
Makes enough for 8 whole sushi rolls

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons sesame tahini
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon liquid aminos
1 tablespoon agave

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Serve in shallow individual containers for dipping.

Nutritional Information (entire recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 233.46
Calories From Fat (49%)- 114.92

Total Fat - 18.93g
Saturated Fat - 2.66g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 989.49mg
Potassium - 579.4mg
Total Carbohydrates - 36.55g
Fiber - 4.18g
Sugar - 0.54g
Protein - 5.45g

Comments:

After two nights of sushi in a row I am officially off the sushi kick for a few days. I love sushi as much as the next guy but I need a break now.

We liked the mirin glazed mushroom sushi the best. In fact we both think the mushrooms would make a great side dish. The rolls with baked tofu and avocado were also good. Both my husband and I liked the sharp bite from the arugula in the sushi. Arugula is something that I will continue to put in sushi.

I am a little shocked that my parents liked the sushi. There were a few questioning glances before they tried it but the apprehension didn’t last long. My father commented that the sushi was much milder in flavor than he expected. Next time there will be wasabi paste to accompany the pickled ginger!