*Please excuse photo quality! These were taken on my iPhone, I’m still getting used to this whole taking-photos-of-the-food-while-you’re-making-it-instead-of-just-scoffing-it thing*
Yesterday, I was hungry and craving something familiar yet ridiculously nutritious. I had a look around the kitchen, then, inspired by this post, decided that raw vegan maki rolls it was!
Maki Rolls (gluten free-if used with tamari, vegan, raw)
I used: a huge handful of spinach, some chopped dried dates, chili, avocado, carrot, cucumber, sprouted organic quinoa (read more about the all round epic-ness and superfood qualities of quinoa here), basil and some homemade walnut and macadamia butter. Also, the brown liquid in the centre there is homemade miso-ponzu. If you don’t know what ponzu is, try is immediately! It’s a japanese dipping sauce, and it’s simply soy sauce with fresh lime juice; I added miso as well due to my undying obsession with it. I used nama shoyu, which is an unpasteurized version of soy sauce, but next time I will buy tamari, which is also gluten free. You can use whatever you like to your maki rolls, but this combination was perfect for me.
I layered my nut butter first, then quinoa, then spinach and basil, and proceeded to go crazy with the rest. One thing though, I ended up using another nori sheet; just seal is with a little water or ponzu, because with this much filling I needed a little more room to roll everything up.
The most important thing is to be assertive! Tuck over the end, and then firmly roll away!
Once you’ve rolled your maki, leave it for a minute to help it soften and then cut away.
YuUUUUUmmm! I can’t tell you how happy I was with this. Everything just worked. The fragrant little explosions of basil, quinoa’s chewiness, the sweetness of the dates and the salty sour mix of the ponzu. Not to mention how nutritionally dense this meal is. Protein, carbohydrates, good fats, sea minerals. I’m going to make some more with my leftovers today. I love getting excited about food :)
You could substitute the quinoa for brown rice or any other cooked or sprouted grain, or even use your juice pulp. Recycling at it’s best. Anyway, I want you to make this dish, and then blog all about it. Let’s share the love people! Recipe page is going up today
Peace x
hahaha sexy :-)