Last night I decided to change up my usual dinner routine and make sushi for my husband. Dinner was tasty, but making the sushi was nothing short of an ordeal.
First you make the rice, cook whatever is to be your filling, then you have to roll it all up in nori paper and slice it very carefully. The rice is a sticky mess, the insides of the roll fall out at the ends, and the slices are typically uneven.
With the leftover ingredients, I decided to create a meal that maintains the sushi flavors but is much easier and faster to make. From now on, this is going to be my go-to sushi method: sushi stacks!
Of course, you don’t have to form your ingredients into a cylinder like I did. You could easily just pile them onto a plate or bowl. To make the cylinder, all you need is a food mold like this one.
My favorite sushi ingredients are sweet potato, avocado, and pickled daikon. Other options include cucumber, cooked shiitake mushrooms, sprouts, carrots, and asparagus.
I sprinkled my sushi stacks with black sesame seeds and served them with pickled ginger and reduced sodium tamari (GF soy sauce). YUM!
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 1¾ cups water
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 T. agave
- ________________________
- ½ cup grated daikon radish
- ⅔ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. agave
- 1 slice of fresh or pickled ginger
- ______________________
- 4 sheets nori paper, cut into smaller squares
- 2 cups cooked & cubed sweet potato
- 2 cups cubed avocado
- Sesame seeds for sprinkling
- Pickled ginger, tamari/soy sauce, wasabi for serving
- Rinse rice to remove excess starch. Combine rice and water in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. After 20 minutes, remove rice from heat. In a small cup or bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, salt, and agave until dissolved. Pour mixture into the warm rice and stir. Allow rice to cool and become sticky.
- In a small cup or bowl, combine the grated daikon, rice vinegar, salt, agave, and ginger slice. Let marinate while you prepare the rest of the dish, at least 5 minutes.
- Plate your nori papers, then place your ring mold in the center of the paper. Spoon about 2 heaping Tablespoons of rice into the ring and, using wet fingertips, press the rice firmly into the bottom of the mold. Next add a layer of avocado, then a layer of sweet potato, making sure to press down on the layers. Finally, drain the daikon and press it between paper towels to remove excess moisture. Spread a thin layer of the pickled daikon on top of the sweet potato and sprinkle it with sesame seeds.
- Gently lift and remove the ring mold, then serve your sushi stack with pickled ginger, tamari/soy sauce, and wasabi, if desired.
- Enjoy!
These sushi stacks are so delicious and filling! I recommend serving them with a light salad with miso ginger dressing and edamame (for added protein). And don’t forget to eat the nori paper!
What are your favorite veg sushi ingredients?
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