So this is a complete treat, especially for a Monday huh?? SUSHI!!!!!! on a MONDAY?!??! really??? Well, it’s not really sushi… I think we tend to generalize certain foods and name them things we probably shouldn’t as we might end up insulting their original “owners”…. but that’s ok.. we live in one world where everything should just be okay and everything shouldn’t really have to have labels…
So what’s with the cauliflower “rice”… well, Ive been hearing it’s a big thing, you know, cauliflower, right now… I mean, it was probably the one thing I couldn’t stand at school, back in the 80’s, in a stinky London, private school dining room, dark and musty… lingering smells of oil, fat, custard… and boiled cauliflower.. yes… So now that the beautiful white bouquet has suddenly overtaken the kale craze… I’m jumping on the bandwagon and saying YEs to it… because it’s really not so bad, because we’ve found ways to like it and make it taste pretty darn good… and here’s one of them…
It’s SO straight forward, I don’t even know why I’m telling you… but I will, just to save you the time…
And then once it’s cooled down, you can just assemble the rolls as you would a classic nori… in any way you like… I made mine mostly pant based, and then I did a couple with smoked salmon, as my girls are huge fans…
I didn’t actually use a bamboo mat to roll these as I couldn’t locate it at the time… it showed up after I needed it, typical….
I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t achieve the desired taste … I have eaten way too many nori rolls in my life so far , and also realized that although I thoroughly love the taste, they do give me that slightly bloated feeling, due to the gorgeous sticky rice… So I’m figuring these would definitely be a lighter option, and once that we could do more frequently…
And I was right!!! They are SO SO good, extremely light and taste wise, 90% there!!! (Come on, they’re not rice okay?)
They also make for a beautifully set up table! You can make these ahead and cover them with cling wrap and set your table up all nice and pretty… Perfect for a ladies lunch or evening of cocktails…
- For the Cauli rice:
- 1 large (2 small) head of cauliflower
- 2 Tb. olive oil
- Salt
- Mirin or sushi rice vinegar
- Tamari or soy sauce
- For the rolls:
- 1 sheet Nori seaweed
- 3 tablespoons Japanese or regular mayonnaise,
- 1 tablespoon tamari or soya sauce
- fillings:
- 1 bunch of kale, blanched
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced,
- 1 spring onion, green and white parts, thinly sliced
- 1 small head radichio, thinly sliced
- chives, finely chopped
- sesame seeds (optional)
- smoked salmon, optional
- Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the cauliflower in half and remove the core and leaves. Roughly chop the cauliflower florets and place in the food processor. Pulse until the cauliflower is small and fine like rice. Don’t over pulse or you’ll just get mushy cauliflower, and no one likes that!
- Tip the cauliflower rice out onto a large rimmed baking sheet (If your baking sheet is average sized or small, use two.) Drizzle the olive oil over the top. Then mix with your hands and spread the cauliflower rice out into a thin layer. Sprinkle with salt.
- Roast in the oven for 5-8 minutes, until you just see it turning a light golden brown. Then stir and smooth out again.Remove from the oven and while it’s still warm, sprinkle about a tablespoon of mirin or sushi rice vinegar all over, and a teaspoon of soy or tamari and mix, Set aside to cool down.
- Lay you nori sheet flat on your work surface.
- Spread some of the mayo sauce over the sheet.
- scatter the cauli rice over the sauce, on the side closest to you, just covering a little less than half the sheet, pressing it and packing it down firmly.
- assemble your choice of veggies over the caulirice , lengthwise across.
- Using a knife press the ingredients down as you fold over the edge closest to you. Wrap snugly toward the edge furthest away.
- Repeat with additional rolls. Cut rolls in half, then again and so on until you get 8 pieces or eat whole, serve with soy sauce or tamari. I got 6 rolls from 1 sheet of nori.
- If using the smoked salmon, it’s the same process, just slice the salmon into thin strips too and arrange them as you would the veggies.
- you can make these a few hours in advance, wrap tightly in cling wrap and store in the fridge. I wouldn’t make them the night before though as they would get too soggy.
- Enjoy!
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