Avocado & Mango Quinoa Sushi

A new way to enjoy Vegetarian Rolls.

I'm living the life. Although I woke up at 4:15 this morning, right now I'm sitting in a chaise lounge, soaking up the sun, in the Windy City. My Vitamin D deprived skin couldn't be happier, it's singing out for joy. Oh how I've missed the sunshine and warm weather!

I could seriously get used to this.

If you read my last post, then you know that I'm not here just to sunbathe. Tomorrow is the Nourished Food Blogger Conference! Yes, it's finally here. The weekend I've been counting down to for the past three months. I can't believe it! It's hard to contain my excitement.

I figured since I'll be away all weekend, I should leave you with an awesome recipe. This one might just be my most favorite one yet.

As the Queen of Quinoa, I'm always on the look out for new and creative ways to use quinoa. Since I'm totally obsessed with this fabulous seed, I never need an excuse to make it. With quinoa's superpower health benefits, amazing versatility, and overall awesomeness, I pretty much have it every single day - breakfast, lunch or dinner.

When I stumbled upon My New Roots, I was blown away. Her photos are stunning. Her recipes are mouth-watering. Her knowledge and passion are inspiring. Truly, it's a fabulous site.

Much to my delight, as I was scrolling through her posts, I found her recipe for Quinoa Spring Sushi + DIY Pickled Ginger. It looked too good to pass up. I immediately sent it to Mr. Henderson, he was on board, so it was decided. We were having quinoa sushi for dinner.

We used the recipe from My New Roots as inspiration, but decided we wanted to use ingredients that we love. We chose a mixture of flavors and textures and decided to go meatless. We stuck with healthy, organic ingredients and simply used gluten-free soy sauce as our side (mixed with wasabi of course).

The result was amazing. It was like sushi I had never had before. The quinoa was lighter than rice. The textures of our vegetables were perfect. The best part? The recipe made enough for us to have lunch leftovers the next day. It was two days of delicious quinoa. Mmm...

Avocado & Mango Quinoa Sushi

A lot of people think that making sushi is hard. I was one of those people until I got a sushi making kit. I tested it one night and discovered sushi is actually crazy easy to make! You just lay all the ingredients out and roll it on up. Quick and simple.

Avocado & Mango Quinoa Sushi
makes about 6 - 8 rolls

Loaded with healthy fats, protein and green vegetables, you may never look at your same old vegetarian sushi roll the same way again. Add a little mango to the mix, and you've got a super tasty, slightly sweet dinner on your hands. Make sure to make enough for leftovers!

ingredients:

• 1 sushi rolling mat
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked
• 1 teaspoon organic rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 - 8 nori (seaweed) sheets
• 1 ripe mango, cut into thin slices
• 1 ripe avocado, cut into thin slices
• 3 green onions, greens removed, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 2 small carrot, julienned
• 6 - 8 romaine leaves, cut in half lengthwise
• Gluten-free soy sauce & wasabi paste for dipping

First prepare you quinoa. Add 3 cups water and 1 1/2 cups dry quinoa into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down to simmer for 8 - 10 minutes. When the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is nice an fluffy, add the rice vinegar, ginger and salt. Toss well to combine. Let the quinoa cool completely in the fridge while you prepare your filling ingredients.

To assemble the rolls, lay the sushi rolling mat flat on a table or cutting board. Place one sheet of nori on the mat, shiny side down. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the quinoa onto the nori and with wet hands, spread it out into a thin layer over the nori, leaving about a 1 inch band uncovered along the edge farthest from you.

Lay the romaine leaves down first, then top with avocado, mango, carrots, and scallions. Lift the edge of the mat that is closest to you with your thumbs, holding the filling ingredients in place with your middle fingers. Roll the mat over the ingredients, pulling back and tightening it after each rollover. Wet the uncovered edge and roll through. Gently squeeze the rolled mat around the nori roll and remove from the mat. 

Slice with a sharp wet knife and serve with gluten-free soy sauce and wasabi paste.