Sushi and Herbed Cream Cheese

I was craving some fresh herbs. I was craving sushi.

So I gathered some organic fresh herbs, vegetables and some tofutti cream cheese and went to town.

 I began the evening with chopping the fresh herbs. The aroma of sage and rosemary and thyme inspired a bit of Simon and a bit of Garfunkle... and I found myself longing for parsley.... but I was glad that I chose basil instead.

I sprinkled chopped red pepper on the cream cheese and a dash of garlic powder and sea salt as well. After a bit of whipping.......

For this roll I soaked slivers of daikon for several hours in a mixture of lemon juice, umeboshi plum vinegar, braggs aminos, sriracha and a bit of mirin. I sliced the delightful rainbow carrots you see pictured above and placed them inside as well. I also added a sliver of cucumber and some of my fresh herbed cream cheese.

I am a yogaholic.... so Im a fan of stretching beyond your comfort zone. I have tried to experiment with a variety of different ways to fill my sushi rolls beyond rice. This roll was a result of that experimentation. What I do to create this roll is boil a few beets with a bit of miso in the water until they are nice and soft and ready to mash. I drain the water and then let the beets 'air' dry with a bit of sprinkled oregano. While the beets rest a bit before the next part of their journey I bake a sweet potato with basil and sea salt and a few teaspoons of a sauce "Steviyaki" I purchase at a local restaurant called Tokyo Joes. It is a teriyaki sauce made with stevia and is one of my favorite condiments.

When the sweet potato is soft and mashable I mix the beets with a tiny bit of potato for the perfect consistency to fill the sushi roll. I place the beet mash in the same position that rice would go in the roll. For the filling of this roll I used avacado, mango, green onion sweet potato and sesame seeds.

Unfortunately I did not get any great pictures this time around of the beet sushi rolls.... but I make them regularly - so one day soon I will post an update of the picture. I had a disaster that involved a hungry cat that jumped up and smashed the roll to pieces before it had been cut....so I improvised to recreate another roll from the leftover similar ingredients - but alas, while it tasted delicious. It was not a pretty sight.

This roll was nice n hot. I sprinkled some dried thai chili seasoning over the rice and added jalapeno, mango, avacado, some krispy gardein strips and instead of  herbed cream cheese some hickory smoked 'we can't say its cheese' spread. I finished it off with a good strong squeee or two of 'Ass Reaper' hot sauce.

Sweet and Spicy Black Bean and Lime No-Meatballs

These no-meatballs were bold. I started dreaming about this recipe weeks ago when I began trying to plan the menu for our November wedding. I decided to experiment with making a sauce for the no-meatballs we are planning to serve at our wedding. They turned out perfectly! They could be served as a main course or an appetizer. They are versatile!

They would go splendidly over a bed of yellow saffron rice.

Ingredients:

 1 bag of No Meatballs:
I prefer Nate's Savory Mushroom. Im a fan. Of the mushroom. Love the flavor...and of Nate's GREAT company! They also confirmed they use non-gmo soy!

1 Shallot
1 tbsp Organic chopped garlic
Evoo - enough to coat the pan

Sauce:

1/4 box of organic vegan refried beans

2 tbsp chili seasoning

1 1/2 cups water

1 jar Crofters Black Currant jelly

3 tsp Braggs Amino Acids or tamari

1 bunch of green onions
1/2 mushroom bullion

1/2 cup Coyote Trail salsa

For the 'stock' of the sauce I chopped the bunch of green onions up in a fine mince. I placed the minced onions in just enough water so that they could float around. I turned the water on low and let it simmer until there was a rich aroma and the onions were soft and clear and had created a broth. I added the half of a mushroom bullion to the water and stirred it until it was dissolved. With an immersion blender I pureed the onions. Then I added 1 and a half cups of water and the box of black beans, and the rest of the ingredients. I turned the pot on low and let it simmer until the sauce had grown thick.

While the sauce simmered......

I threw the shallot and the garlic and evoo in a skillet and let the garlic brown and the shallot turn clear. When the pan was prepared with the perfect sizzle I tossed the bag of no-meatballs in and rolled them around until they turned a golden brown.


Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the finished meatballs right now - technical difficulties... but I will try to get them uploaded eventually. Instead... please accept this picture of a satisfied taste tester.








~ note ~ As with all of my recipes any measurement is a guestimate - so please experiment to find your perfect flavor and consistency.

I did play around with the thickness and amount of water in the sauce... so you may want to add the bean mix and add water slowly....... as you want a thick jelly like substance for this sauce.