People can't believe I'm allergic to rice. Even my allergist was shocked when the skin test came up positive. Rice allergies are incredibly rare, and this situation is only made worse by my inability to eat soy or wheat. Most gluten-free and wheat-free products are produced in facilities that eliminate soy and other common allergies in order to serve both celiacs and food allergic people with their products. But what about us rice people?!? Well, we're out of luck. Almost every wheat- and soy-free packaged product uses rice flour. Crackers, pastas, breads, cereals...you name it. And I have to admit, the biggest blow...the worst part of this entire situation...is that I can't eat Asian food. Or so I thought.
Sushi and Indian food are pretty much my favorite things in the entire world. And while I have yet to really tackle substitution in Indian food, I have made successful allergen-free sushi. I know that there probably aren't many people who can't eat rice like me, but there are plenty of people who want alternatives to bleached white rice. White rice is devoid of nutrition and is a simple carbohydrate, meaning that your body converts it into sugar quickly, leaving you hungrier faster. Quinoa is a whole grain, forcing your body to work harder to get the nutrients, which leaves you feeling fuller for longer AND not causing such drastic spikes/dips in blood sugar. Also, quinoa is high in protein, which is excellent for vegans. Anyway, give it a shot if you're looking for a culinary adventure!
QUINOA SUSHI
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
Place the quinoa and the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then cover and reduce heat, simmering for approx. 10 minutes or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water. Quinoa is cooked when the little round casings separate from the grain.
In a separate bowl or saucepan, heat the vinegar and then add the sugar and salt. Stir until all the sugar and salt dissolve, then pour the vinegar mixture into the quinoa in small batches, making sure to coat it evenly.
Once the quinoa is ready, you can assemble your sushi. I usually julienne carrots, cucumber, and avocado to put inside, but have also put cooked sweet potato in them. I hear jicama is yummy in sushi, and I'm sure there are other fun things you can use. Anyway, look at some sushi websites or on YouTube for instructions on how to roll sushi if you've never done it. It's tons of fun and makes for an excellent dinner party or home-date.
The traditional condiments served with sushi are soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. I highly recommend you get the wasabi and ginger in addition to your sushi nori (the seaweed wrapper) since they are flavorful and GF/AF/vegan...that is, if your taste buds can handle them. Soy sauce is another story. The last time I made this quinoa sushi, I found a recipe for a mock soy sauce. It was...okay. I'm in the process of perfecting the recipe and will post a successful recipe when I've figured it out. But in my opinion, the best sushi condiment is spicy mayo* (2 tbsp veganaise/allowed mayonnaise with 1 tsp Sriracha sauce). You can either dip your rolled sushi into it or use it inside the roll, as sushi chefs do in spicy shrimp rolls and such.
Ok, it's too late for me to be salivating this much. I'm gonna go to bed now :D
*See my post of AF/GF/vegan burgers for more info.
do you like my user name? i made it thinking of you...lo.....somewhere in this post you say "mix into rice"...you should change that to mix into quinoa... ;)
ReplyDeletewe should try this again with less sugar, see if it still works
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