Grain-free sushi bowl (grain-free, vegan, gluten-free)
2:37 PMHave I told you how much I love sushi? Well, I LOVE sushi... My passion for sushi began years and years ago, after University. I st...
2:37 PM
Have I told you how much I love sushi? Well, I LOVE sushi...
My passion for sushi began years and years ago, after University. I started going out for dinner at least once a week with my good friends and sushi was almost always our food of choice. And why not? Sushi is beautiful, delicate, often cheap, semi-healthy, delicious and can be found virtually everywhere where I live. Our favourite go-to place was a busy one -- always rammed with lineups out the door but well worth the wait, every time.
A few years in to my sushi obsession I started having weird reactions to almost all Asian food. I would eat and then begin to feel as if my ears and throat were sealing shut. It was terrifying. A few allergy tests later and I discovered I had developed a soy allergy.
Dismayed and terrified of anaphylaxis, I began to explore other cuisines and avoid sushi and other Asian foods like the plague. To this day I still do, more or less. The sad thing is that I still consider Japanese cuisine my favourite. So what's a girl to do when she's hit over the head with sushi cravings but still fearing soy? Make her own without any!
Today was a great day. I bought all the vegan sushi paraphernalia I could think of (wasabi, ginger, soy-free 'soy' sauce, nori, avocado, sweet potato, mango) and made some seriously convincing sushi and this sushi bowl.
You may have noticed that I refer to this sushi bowl as "grain-free". I decided to make it, and my unpictured sushi rolls, with cauliflower "rice" instead of real rice. If you're unfamiliar with cauliflower "rice", its just steamed cauliflower, processed in a food processor to look like grains of rice. In the context of this sushi bowl it is a very convincing rice substitute. For my sushi rolls I used a touch of rice wine vinegar and coconut sugar to season the cauliflower which made it taste and look a LOT like sushi rice. My husband didn't even notice it wasn't rice, I had to tell him! Technically my sushi rolls were not grain free because I used rice vinegar but I left it out for this sushi bowl recipe and honestly didn't miss it.
So what's in my bowl? All this sushi-inspired goodness:
- sliced avocado
- sriracha
- spicy vegan mayo (vegenaise mixed with sriracha)
- dulse flakes (for fishy flavour)
- vegan kimchi (for a Korean twist and a good dose of probiotics)
- mango slices
- cauliflower "rice"
- coconut aminos (to replace soy sauce) mixed with a touch of wasabi and ginger
My only regret in this experience is my current inability to properly cut sushi rolls. If I didn't suck at it so much I would have shared my sushi variation on this recipe today. I'll practice and share it in a few weeks! For now I hope you enjoy this sushi bowl.
This bowl is a little addictive -- sweet, spicy and salty. Its also pretty healthy, featuring lots of veggies and fruit, a good dose of iodine from the dulse, good fat from the avocado and probiotics from the kimchi. Make it for a healthy and light lunch, pretty appetizer or fun international breakfast!
GRAIN FREE SUSHI BOWL
SUSHI "RICE":
- 2-3 cups fresh or frozen cauliflower florets, steamed until tender
- OPTIONAL: 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
BOWL FILLINGS:
- 1/2 large avocado, skin removed, sliced thinly lengthwise
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 1/2 ripe mango, skinned and sliced into bite sized pieces
- 1 tsp dulse flakes
- cucumber, sliced thinly into matchsticks
- coconut aminos OR tamari soy sauce
- OPTIONAL: 1 tbsp pickled ginger, 1 tbsp kimchi, vegan spicy mayo (recipe follows)
- 1 tbsp vegenaise (or your favourite vegan mayo)
- 1 tsp sriracha
- dash of garlic powder
HOW TO ASSEMBLE THE BOWL:
Transfer Sushi "Rice" to a serving bowl. Top with mango pieces, dulse, cucumber, kimchi, pickled ginger and avocado. Add a dollop of the spicy mayo, then drizzle over the sriracha. Serve with a drizzle of coconut aminos or tamari.
