cucumber

Plant Based Tzatziki Farfalle Pasta Salad With Sun-dried Tomatoes and Artichoke Hearts (Vegan and Oil-Free)

September 20, 2019 by Veronica Grace 3 Comments

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FTC Notice: This blog post contains affiliate links which go towards supporting the blog.

Pasta salad is such a great meal for picnics or lunches that can be made ahead of time and eaten for a few days. For today’s recipe I used farfalle (bowtie) pasta because it has a nice texture and chew when eaten cold and goes well with the size of the other chopped veggies. You might be wondering what I’ve used for the base of the plant based tzatziki sauce and instead of processed coconut/soy yogurt I’m using silken tofu.

With silken tofu it’s just soy milk that has been curdled and formed and instead of separating the soy curds from the whey they are set together so it’s softer and creamier. It also doesn’t have added fillers, binders, or sugar. Quite often you’ll find silken tofu cheaper than a tub of plant based yogurt as well. You can find it at any Asian market, most health food stores and of course on Amazon depending where you live. I like to keep a few on hand for make plant based “cream” sauces like my Fettuccini Alfredo from my cookbook Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World.

Silken Tofu Tzatziki Farfalle Pasta Salad Vegan, Dairy and Oil Free

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Of course you can use whatever other type of pasta you like for this salad as well, just make sure that it’s bite sized and cooked to the perfect tenderness so it’s not too al dente or too soft so it doesn’t fall apart. The farfalle shape works well because it doesn’t tend to get as stuck together in the fridge or break when made ahead of time for meals later on.

This also works great for traveling. I often have people asking me what they can bring on a road trip or flight besides dried snacks. Since this pasta salad is dairy and egg free you don’t have to worry about it being food safe and it will be fine out of the refrigerator for a few hours packed in a cooler or a bag. I’ve never had an issue eating pasta salad on a plane or bringing it through security. The sauce sticks to the pasta and isn’t liquid in the bottom so it’s not a concern.

So why not give it a try? Maybe you’ll find some new lunch ideas and you’ll probably want to make the silken tofu tzatziki again and again for using as a dip, salad dressing or sauce for wraps or pitas as well!

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Silken Tofu Tzatziki Farfalle Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 recipe of Silken Tofu Tzatziki
1/2 English cucumber, chopped or a few dill pickles chopped/diced
1/2 cup packed sundried tomato halves, sliced (mine were dried not packed in oil)
1 can artichoke hearts packed in water, sliced (6 cooked artichoke hearts, sliced)
454g/1 lb bag of farfalle or other pasta (you can use gluten free if you like)
Fresh dill for garnishing (if you have any left from the Tzatziki recipe)

Directions:

1. 1. 1. Make Silken Tofu Tzatziki and set aside
    2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt if desired. For cold pasta it will make it more flavourful.
    3. Prepare vegetables and set aside.
    4. Cook Farfalle for approximately 14 minutes or to desired tenderness in boiling salted water. You still want it to be a bit chewy but not tough or too soft and falling apart.
    5. Drain and rinse pasta in cold water when at desired tenderness until cool.
    6. Add farfalle pasta to a bowl and make sure it’s cooled down before adding remaining ingredients.
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  1. Add vegetables and sauce and toss to combine.
  2. Taste test and add any additional salt or pepper now if desired
  3. Serve or portion out into containers. Best eaten within 3-4 days due to fresh ingredients in the tzatziki sauce.
  What are you favorite ingredients to add to pasta salad?

Silken Tofu Plant Based Tzatzki Sauce (Vegan, Oil and Dairy Free)

September 19, 2019 by Veronica Grace Leave a Comment

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Looking for a deliciously cool dip or sauce for veggies, wraps, or Greek pita sandwiches? This recipe is super easy and uses silken tofu instead of yogurt for the base. Tofu actually is processed like cheese is taking a “milk” and adding coagulant and then separating the curds from the whey in most cases.

Silken tofu is set with the soy bean whey in it, so it’s a little softer and creamier. Which makes it a great substitute for dairy when you want a creamy base and because it’s less processed than soy yogurts it’s usually cheaper too.

Silken Tofu Vegan Oil Free Tzatziki Sauce

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Silken Tofu Tzatziki (Vegan and Oil Free)

Ingredients:
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 12oz pkg firm Mori-nu silken tofu, drained (make sure to use firm, soft will be too runny for dip but maybe ok for salad dressing)
2-3 large garlic cloves
2 tbsp raw unsalted cashews or pine nuts (Soaked and drained if you don’t have a high powered blender)
1/2 tsp Herbamare or sea salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp ground black or white pepper
1 English cucumber deseeded, peeled and grated
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)

Directions:

Combine lemon juice, tofu, garlic, cashews, salt and pepper into food processor or blender and blend until creamy.
Taste test and add more lemon juice, salt or pepper if desired.
Squeeze out all of the excess water from the grated cucumber with your hands or with a spoon through a mesh strainer.
Stir in the fresh dill and strained cucumber.
Store in a container and refrigerate a few hours before serving.

Use within 3-4 days for best results due to the nature of fresh ingredients.

What are you going to serve with your Tzatziki?

20 Minutes To The Table: Baked Flatbread with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Artichokes and Basil

July 28, 2013 by Veronica Grace 10 Comments

So the other day I was craving something pizza-like, but knew I wanted to put a healthy twist on it. Although you may think I’m apt to put hummus on just about anything (I might! lol) I actually don’t eat hummus all that often. But when I do, I love to make my own from scratch as it’s super simple. In this recipe I wanted to use the creamy hummus to sub for the sauce and cheese of traditional pizza and then top with some delicious veggies. Although you can use store bought hummus, I don’t like that it contains a lot of oil and isn’t as tasty as making your own. In fact there is a world of difference between fresh made roasted red pepper hummus versus the store bought kind.

In this episode of 20 minutes to the Table I’m going to show you how you can make your own roasted red pepper hummus, baked flat bread and a fresh salad with maple dijon dressing all in less than 20 minutes for an easy midweek meal

To subscribe to my Youtube channel please click on the video to open it in a new browser and hit the subscribe button beside LowFatVeganChef just under the video. Likes are always appreciated as well!

Some other toppings for your baked flatbread could be sautéed mushrooms, black olives, pineapple, arugula, tempeh or smoked tofu. Use your imagination! Recipes below:

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Oil-Free Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Recipe

This is half the recipe from my version in Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World

Ingredients:

15 oz. / 425 g can chickpeas (no-salt), drained (reserve a few tbsp of liquid) *OR 1 3/4 cup fresh cooked chickpeas
1 Tbsp. tahini (sesame seed butter)
6 oz. / 170 g (half a jar) roasted red peppers, drained *OR about 1 small fresh roasted red pepper
1/2 large lemon, juiced
2 cloves of garlic
1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp. Herbamare or salt, or to taste

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Taste test and adjust seasonings if desired and blend again. Don’t worry if it’s a little thin, when it baked it will become creamy and thick!
3. Enjoy!

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Recipe photo

Vegan Baked Flatbread with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Artichoke Hearts and Basil

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (recipe above)
1 package of thin burger/sandwich buns or other flatbread
1 15 oz. can artichoke hearts in water (not oil) *OR 400g of frozen artichoke hearts
1 small Vidalia (sweet) onion, sliced
1 handful of fresh basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sauté onion over medium heat for 5-7 minutes in a little bit of water.
2. Slice artichoke hearts and basil into strips.
3. Assemble flatbread by spreading a thick layer of hummus on each piece of bread and topping with cooked onion, artichoke pieces and basil.
4. Bake for 8-10 until crispy and brown on the bottom. (I baked mine for 10 minutes)

Spinach Arugula Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing

Serves 3-4

Salad Ingredients:

1 5 oz package baby spinach & arugula mix
1/2 English cucumber, sliced
1/2 ripe tomato, sliced
1/3 cup chickpeas

Dressing Ingredients:

4 tbsp Dijon mustard
5-6 tbsp maple syrup (or honey if desired)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

Directions:

1. Assemble salad ingredients into a bowl.
2. Whisk dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Drizzle over salad and store any leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge.

Have you ever made a vegan flatbread or pizza? What’s your favorite toppings? Let me know what you think of these recipes by posting below.

Bun Chay (Vegetarian Vietnamese Vermicelli Herb Noodle Salad)

March 24, 2013 by Veronica Grace 15 Comments

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I love how fresh and light vegetarian Vietnamese food is. Vietnamese dishes don’t tend to be very vegan friendly because many items have chicken stock or fish sauce in them, so you may not always be able to find something that is truly vegan at a Vietnamese restaurant. Bun Chay is a vegetarian vermicelli noodle salad seasoned with fresh herbs, bean sprouts and Nuac Chom (a fish based sauce.)

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So I wanted to show you how you can make Bun Chay totally vegan at home. This is a really fun and impressive recipe to make for one, or even a dinner party. If you can slice some veggies and toss them together to make a regular salad, trust me you can make this! It’s super easy and fresh and you can customize it with your favorite vegetables or proteins like tofu or tempeh as well.

Bun Chay Vegan Vietnamese Vermicelli Rice Noodle Salad

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This salad also keeps well and can be taken to work for a healthy lunch (just make sure to keep the dressing separate). If you’re longing for a recipe to mix up your salad routine, this is it! It’s very low in fat, as well as filling. I hope you like it!

Bun Chay (Vegetarian Vietnamese Vermicelli Herb Salad)

Serves 4

Salad:

250 g/8.8 oz package of rice vermicelli noodles (thin)
1 carrot, peeled and shredded or spiralized
2 Persian/small seedless cucumbers, julienned
1-2 cups fresh mung bean sprouts
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped and/or 1 cup Thai basil leaves, chopped
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup peanuts, crushed *optional

Vegan Nuac Cham (Sauce for Bun Chay):

1/4 cup lime juice (1 1/2 large limes)
1/4 cup vegetarian fish sauce (see recipe here)
1/3 cup hot water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 -4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 – 1 thai chili, finely chopped *optional
2 tbsp shredded carrot *optional

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When boiling, turn off the heat and add the noodles and stir to break up.

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2. Let noodles sit for 2 minutes.

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3. Drain noodles and run in cold water to shock them. Drain in a colander.

4. Prep veggies.

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5. Arrange noodles in serving bowls. Garnish with carrots, cucumber, chopped herbs, mung beans and peanuts.

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6. Combine ingredients for Nuac Cham sauce in a bowl and whisk until sugar dissolves. (You want it to be strong tasting as the noodles are bland and will soak up the flavor.)

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7. Serve Bun Chay with a side of Nuac Cham. Pour sauce over it and toss well to combine.

Additional Tips:

Please note that Thai basil has a very different taste than regular Italian basil, so if you cannot find it, please use mint and cilantro (coriander) instead. Thai basil has green and purple tipped leaves and has a very exotic flavor.

I used a Japanese turning slicer to spiralize my carrots. I find them prettier this way instead of just shredding them. This is what I used.

If you can’t find Persian/Iranian (mini seedless cucumbers) use English cucumbers.

Make sure to put lots of herbs in this salad as it will be very mild tasting, you get most of the flavor from the Nuoc Cham sauce and the herbs. Otherwise it will mostly be rice noodles, carrots and bean sprouts.

If desired you can serve it with some hoison sauce (I tend to avoid as it has msg) or Sriracha hot sauce. You can find these at Asian stores and sometimes regular grocery stores as well.

Have you ever had Vermicelli salad or “Bun” before? What did you think of it?

Sweet and Savory Asian Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing

March 17, 2013 by Veronica Grace 14 Comments

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Often when I make salads at home I toss whatever I have in the fridge into a bowl and make a homemade dressing for it. This is a giant salad I made one night for dinner and it was so filling I didn’t need anything else! But I kept it lower fat by not adding anymore nuts or avocado to it and added chickpeas instead for calories and protein.

I also like to add apples and dried fruit to salads to give them more flavor and calories as opposed to lots of nuts or seeds. Salads can be much more appetizing when you make a fresh homemade dressing. Store bought dressings often contain a lot of junk and it’s super easy to make your own at home. I usually make my dressing recipes up as I go along and season them to taste. This one is no exception and I think you’ll like it!

Sweet and Savory Salad Ingredients:

6-8 cups of salad greens like spring mix, or baby greens
2 apples, peeled and diced
1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup of sugar snap peas
1/2 English cucumber, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced *optional
2 tbsp dried cranberries

Orange Sesame Dressing Ingredients:

4 tbsp tahini (sesame seed butter)
2 tbsp orange vinegar (or other fruit vinegar)
8 dates, pitted and chopped
1/3-1/2 cup water (as needed for consistency)
Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Arrange salad ingredients into a large bowl.
2. Combine dressing ingredients in a blender or VitaMix and blend until smooth.
3. Serve and drizzle with dressing.

Additional Tips:

Use dressing within 3-4 days and store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Mix up your dressings by purchasing a few different types of fruit vinegars. Trader Joe’s makes a few varieties and so does Dr. Fuhrman (sold on his website). Having a little variety makes creating different tasting dressings so easy.

What’s your favorite salad dressing recipe?

How To Make Raw Vegan Veggie Stuffed Collard Wraps

January 24, 2012 by Veronica Grace 21 Comments

How To Make Raw Vegan Veggie Collard Wrap Sandwich

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Raw Collard Wraps With Veggies, Sprouts and Guacamole

Are you looking for a quick and healthy wrap that’s maybe low in calories and more whole foods based? Or maybe you’re looking for a gluten or wheat free sandwich option. Well check out my raw veggie collard wraps!

So… I totally forgot to add these delicious collard wraps to my recipe program Savory Raw Dinner Recipes because they were so easy to make I did not write the recipe down! LOL. When I compiled the recipe book I did not have it on my computer and I forgot about it. So I’m posting it here for you instead. These raw collard wraps are really easy to make if you have access to large size flat collard green leaves and are really impressive to non raw foodies.

If you haven’t checked out Savory Raw Dinner Recipes, I highly recommend you do. I created the recipes and did all the photography myself. These are possibly the sexiest lower fat gourmet recipes you’ve ever seen. Even if you just enjoy some healthy food porn photos, you should check it out!

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If you live in the south you can find collard greens at most grocery stores or Walmart, but if you live in the north or in Canada you’ll have to go to Whole Foods or your local community health food store.

In the South it’s about 88 cents (USD) for a bunch of collards. In Canada, it costs us about $2.99 (CAD) for a large bunch. Overall, it’s a pretty cheap wrapper to make a raw burrito or sandwich, just make sure you select a bunch of collards that have lots of large flat leaves, not bent, crushed or small leaves as you’ll more likely end up having to make tiny raw vegan tacos instead because you can’t wrap the collards like a burrito.

If you DON’T have collard greens, it won’t really turn out the same. The key to this wrap is the collard green’s very large, strong and pliable leaf. You can try using other greens, but what you’ll get instead is more of an open face sandwich/taco/boat that you sprinkle toppings in and eat kind of like a hot dog! Probably tastes the same, but will look different. You can try both style of raw wrap.

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This is what a collard leaf looks like whole. You will see it’s flat and not curly like kale.

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Raw Collard Wraps With Veggies, Sprouts and Guacamole

How To Make Raw Vegan Collard Wraps

Serves 2

For this recipe you’re going to need:

2 large collard green leaves, washed
1/2 ripe avocado (should give to your thumb when pressed)
julienned or spiralized carrot and/or beets
julienned cucumber
julienned pepper
julienned zucchini
A few sprouts (If you have, I used alfalfa, you can use sunflower, pea shoots etc)
Seasonings if desired: lime/lemon, salt, pepper, olives

Tools:

A sharp knife
Flat surface

Step 1: Lay your collard leaf out flat on a cutting board stem side facing UP. Next take your sharp knife (it needs to be sharp, and not a serrated one, I cut myself once sawing into my finger) and angle it down and into the stem of the leaf. Shave the stem from the leaf horizontally and away from you. You want to do this so you can roll and fold your collard leaf without it cracking and splitting. Keep shaving down the stem a bit at a time, until it is flush with the leaf and then cut the edge off the stem end so it is straight at the bottom. Test your collard leaf now to see if it will roll easily into a small burrito. If it does, you’ve got your collard stem thin enough. Once you do this once, you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

Step 2: Spread 1/4 of a ripe avocado (half of your 1/2 avocado) onto you collard leaf leaving an inch or two from the bottom end of the stem. Spread it in the middle area only, not all the way out to the sides and top. Season if desired over the avocado for flavour.

Step 3: Lay your veggies and sprouts nicely in the bottom portion to middle of your collard leaf, still leaving and inch or two at the bottom part of the stem. Keep everything in the middle and far away from the top and sides, just like you would fill a burrito.

Step 4: Roll the bottom stem end of your collard leaf up and away from you and make a full roll. Tuck in the sides of the leaf and continue rolling and tucking in as you go. Keep your roll tight so when you cut it your filling doesn’t fall out.

Step 5: Hold your wrap tightly and then carefully slice it in half. If desired you can skewer it with a toothpick to hold it together and set it on a plate.

Step 6: Repeat for the other wrap.

I would recommend sticking with a thick creamy filling like avocado, guacamole or my Lower Fat Hemp Hummus (from Savory Raw Dinner Recipes) instead of using a fruit or vinegar based dressing, as the taste of collards is quite strong and with just a vinegar or lemon base it won’t really be that delicious. Unless you’re like a hard core raw foodist, in which case you probably eat raw kale by the bunchfuls… every day… Just kidding! Rock on! 🙂

Serve this wrap with a raw soup, green salad or fruit salad. This is not a low fat recipe, technically because the veggies and wrap have so little calories. This is why I did not use an entire avocado for the recipe, otherwise it would be very fatty. I want to emphasize that on it’s own this is a very LOW CALORIE wrap, pretty much a snack. Since we don’t want to load up on nuts, seeds and oil on a low fat raw vegan or 80/10/10 diet, this should be part of a meal. We enjoyed this with a fat free soup recipe from Savory Raw Dinner Recipes and lots veggie sticks with my raw hummus. You just can’t see it from the photo, but the soup was present!

I have seen some restaurants steam the collard leaves as well for those who prefer a milder taste (sort of like steamed cabbage in a cabbage roll) so that’s always an option if you’re looking for a softer texture in your wrap!

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What do you think of these wraps? What did you fill yours with?

How To Make A Vegan Dragon Roll Sushi Roll (Uramaki) With Photos!

January 10, 2012 by Veronica Grace 5 Comments

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Vegan Dragon Sushi Roll

Dragon rolls are generally not vegan or vegetarian and filled with smoked eel and drizzled with eel sauce. But they look so pretty and are covered in avocado, which is vegan and delicious in sushi.

So here’s my version of a vegan Dragon Roll. It’s very similar to making my vegan California Roll, but we’re going to take the avocado out from the middle, and put it ontop of the roll instead and add some additional filling.

Makes 2 dragon rolls

You Will Need:

1/2 recipe of sumeshi aka sushi rice (found here)
2 pieces nori seaweed
4 sticks julienned cucumber (see my post on prepping veggies here)
4 sticks julienned carrots, steamed gently
4 sticks another vegetable of choice, I used julienned zucchini, steamed gently
4 strips sliced green onion (scallion)
1 small-medium avocado

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To make this vegan sushi roll we are going to use the thick style sushi mat. (The one on the bottom) It’s much stronger and will give a firm shape to the sushi. I bought a set of sushi mats in a cheap 2 pack on Amazon for about $7 with free shipping. You can also find a single mat for a few dollars on Amazon like this one . Asian stores will sell them as well.

How To Wrap Your Bamboo Sushi Mat For Uramaki – Inside Outside Rolls

We’re going to wrap our sushi mat in plastic wrap/saran wrap. We do this because sushi rice is SUPER sticky and will make a mess on the bamboo mat, yet it comes off easily from the plastic wrap. Basically you’re going to wrap it like you would a present with wrapping paper, tucking in all the sides and the wrap should cling to itself to seal it.

How To Wrap Sushi Mat For Uramaki Inside Out Sushi Rolls

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Sushi mat wrapped on one side and sides tucked over

Take a piece of plastic wrap and put it on top of one side of the mat. Flip it over and then tuck in the side and top and bottom so that the back side is totally sealed.

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Sushi mat with front side covered in wrap

Next, take another piece of plastic wrap and place it over the front side (that has the sides tucked in) and flip it over and tuck in the sides and top and bottom again.

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Sushi mat covered on all sides and pulled tight

Now your sushi mat is ready to make vegan Dragon Rolls.

How To Make A Vegan Dragon Roll (Uramaki / Inside Outside)

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Step 1: Measure between 3/4 and 1 cup of sushi rice depending how much rice you want on your roll. (They are very filling, usually a person can only eat 2 of these rolls max because the rice is so filling.) I used a heaping 3/4 cup of rice and it was just enough for me.

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Step 2: Lay your nori sheet SHINY side up (with the dotted line side face down) This is the backside of your nori sheet and we’re going to cover it with rice. Dump your rice into the middle of the nori sheet.

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Step 3: Using your rice paddles (or very wet fingers) gently push the rice outwards and to the edges and the corners. This will take a while until you get the hang of it. You can leave a tiny space on the top and bottom of the sheet and this will make the roll easier to roll up.

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Continue spreading out the rice until you have a layer about 1-2 rice grains thick. It won’t be perfect, but as long as there are no big gaps it will be good.

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Step 4: Press your rice down on your nori sheet so that no grains are sticking up and it’s level.

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Step 5: Pick up your nori sheet from the bottom, holding tightly and flip it over away from you. Now the dotted section side should be facing you.

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Step 6: Fill your nori sheet with desired filling. In this case for my vegan dragon roll, lay 2 strips of cucumber lengthwise, 2 strips of carrot, 2 strips of green onion and 2 strips of zucchini. Spread them out so they fill the entire roll. It can spill out a little over the side, but not too much. Your filling is going to lay in the first rectangular area of the sheet. After the little bottom bar.

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Step 7: Next we’re going to grab the bottom of the sushi mat and bring it up and over creating a tube. You want to make one roll so that you cannot see your filling anymore and tuck and squeeze it under with your hands and the sushi mat. You want to make each roll tight so that your sushi stays together and the filling won’t fall out of the middle when you slice it.

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Continue rolling tightly up the nori sheet.

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This is what it looks like when 1 full roll is done. Continue rolling.

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Roll your nori sheet up until the end. You shouldn’t have to wet the end of the nori to seal it. It has moisture from the sticky rice. You want to squeeze it firmly and evenly all across the mat when you get to the end to seal the roll evenly.

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This is what your sushi roll looks like when it’s sealed.

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Step 8: Flip your sushi roll over so the seam side is faced down.

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Step 9: Next slice your avocado thinly and lay each piece onto the top of your sushi roll.

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Step 10: Bring your mat up over the roll and press down on the avocado on the top and sides. Just hard enough to crush it against the rice so it sticks.

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Step 11: Get a very sharp knife, wet it thoroughly with water and make a 6-8 cuts to the sushi roll to create sushi pieces. This takes some time and patience. You must wet your knife between EACH cut because your knife will be covered in sticky starch from the rice. If you don’t keep the knife wet and clean before each cut you can tear and mangle your pretty sushi roll. I generally cut these ones into 6 pieces. But if you’re feeding children, it’d be better for 8 pieces so it’s not too big for them to bite into.

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Vegan Dragon Roll

Next plate your sushi and serve with soy sauce or tamari and chopsticks! Enjoy your beautiful vegan Dragon Roll!

How To Prep Veggies For Vegan Sushi Rolls

January 8, 2012 by Veronica Grace 3 Comments

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Vegan California Rolls (Uramaki style)

This post is about how to prep your veggies to make vegan sushi rolls. Check out my recipe for Vegan California Rolls.

Vegan sushi rolls are great because they can appeal to everyone from vegans and vegetarians to people who would rather not eat traditional sushi that contains raw fish.

They are fun to make and can be made up in advance for fancy hors d’oeuvres, a potluck, a themed dinner, a lunch box, or a snack! Choose your favourite fillings and I will give you some tips on how to prepare them for putting into sushi rolls.

Generally, the Japanese do not eat raw plain vegetables in their sushi rolls. They mainly use raw fish, cooked shrimp, cooked crab, pickled daikon radish, egg roe, or cooked egg. The raw vegan friendly items you will find are generally cucumber and avocado. Basically because their texture is desirable raw and you can’t really cook them.

For other harder vegetables they are blanched or gently steamed so they can be easier to chew and more pleasurable to eat. You don’t have to steam your crunchy vegetables if you don’t want to. But I’ll give you some suggestions for which ones to do so for a more enjoyable roll.

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For cucumber, the English variety is best because it has few seeds and is tender. You want to slice the cucumber about in half and then slice a 1/2″ thick slice vertically down the cucumber. Next julienne it in strips. You will need about 2 strips of cucumber for each roll you are making.

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Slice out the seed portion from your cucumber. You don’t need to use it to make sushi rolls.

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If you’re using Bell peppers (capsicum) you can leave them uncooked and raw and just slice the top off and julienne into strips.

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For carrots, peel them and slice just like the cucumber into 1/2″ thick slices and then julienne.

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I recommend steaming the carrots gently so they are not rock hard and crunchy in your sushi roll. It’s up to you, but steaming for 1-2 minutes will improve the eatability of your veggie sushi.

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The carrots have turned a light orange and are al dente. Set aside to cool before rolling into sushi.

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For avocado, ensure you have a ripe one. The one I have here is pretty ripe so that’s why it’s a little mushy. Generally sushi bars use semi ripe or a little underripe avocado because they go through so many of them and if they are firm it’s easier to work with. Personally I think crunchy watery unripe avocado is gross and will not use it in my cuisine. So pick a green avocado a few days before you want to make sushi and let it ripen on the counter. It is ripe when soft to the touch. Cut it open, pull out the seed and make slices into the avocado. You can pull out a slice at a time as you slice it, or scoop it all out with a spoon.

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All my veggies are now prepped and ready to fill my sushi rolls.

Additional veggies you may want to use in your vegan sushi rolls:

green onion – leave raw, wash and slice lengthwise once and then horizontally once.
asparagus – cut off the hard bottoms, and steam gently for 1-3 minutes and let cool.
yams/sweet potato – peel and cut into long rectangular strips and steam until just cooked but still firm.
zucchini/courgette – peel and julienne like cucumber and steam gently for 1-2 minutes if desired. This improves flavour.
pickled daikon radish – can be purchased at Asian markets and julienned. They are usually bright yellow in colour and is used in Oshinko sushi rolls.
sprouts – you can simply wash and dry sprouts like sunflower or alfalfa and use in addition to other veggies in a sushi roll. By themselves would not be very flavourful.

You can also roll sliced tofu, marinated tofu, or bean curd skin in your vegan sushi rolls if desired as well.