Raw Rolls

I know I should be doing something like cleaning up the kitchen (aka: bombsite), making creative flower arrangements with photos like the one I saw at playgroup yesterday that made me feel like a loser for not even having time to sort my socks from my undies, or, doing some reading about parenting that might have held a magical secret for dealing with my 7 month old who had a meltdown during our walk today that resulted in my pulling out my boob in the middle of the street in -4 degree weather. But no....instead, as Aodhan munches on his monkey, I am blogging! Yah!

I made a killer lunch today. Really raw avocado rolls. Not just raw veg, but raw EVERYTHING. These rice-free, protein packed sushi rolls were a perfect 'get me through the rest of the day until Kevin comes home' kind of snack. And, so much more easy to assemble then their rice filled brother.

Seriously - you have to make these. Go and do it right now. Go!

2 cups of raw sunflower seeds - soaked for 1 hour.
1 lime
2 sheets of nori
1 ripe avocado

I whirled up my seeds and lime in my food processor (much to Aodhan's horror), and then simply used this seedi-goodness in place of rice filler for my rolls. It took me all of two seconds to assemble the avocado rolls and about 2 minutes to down them! Num Num!


And...as you can see - they were fun for the whole family!

Pie, Beans, Sushi and Lunch...a bit of everything really!

Ok, maternity leave should have a hand book with it. Actually, you should get a whole package that includes some kind of dial so you can turn down your energy stores. All I have been hearing for the last two days (via facebook) is that I need to slow down, calm down, sleep, rest, relax....ummm...not really possible for me. Have never been able to really rest for much more then a few chapters of a book. I do wish, a little bit, that I could stop or at least slow down, but I guess I will when I need to. In the mean time......my kitchen is a state of a non-stop cook-off!

I have loads, but will try to keep the post small and just share the goodies.



Sunday night I made a rather simple, but really satisfying Tuscan Bean dish with Roastie Rosemary Potatoes. Perfect combo.

Mmmmm. Monday's Lunch was also quite yummy. I had a multi-grain bagel with avocado, yellow peppers and raw zuchi. I made a little fresh sweet pea and zuchi salad to go along with it - with a little sesame oil on top. Just look at those fresh peas? One thing I really heart about Brussels is the bevy of fresh local produce that is available throughout the week at various open air markets.


And then yesterday I used my date syrup to replace sugar in a Rhubarb, Ginger and Strawberry Pie that I just had to make. I saw the Rhubarb sitting there all local-like and fresh in my kitchen windowsill, and I knew it wasn't destined for ANOTHER crumble. So, I got down to it and made a couple of pie shells with whole wheat all purpose flour (since I was out of w.w pastry flour). The innards of the pie were inspired a wee bit from this 2006 post on Vegan-licious. But then, as usual, I just started winging it. Enter the date syrup. I couldn't live with chucking the required amount of brown and white sugar into the pie, so I went with the date syrup that A.K. inspired me to whip up on Friday. I used this naturally sweet syrup to sweeten and lengthen the flavours of the rhubarb and ginger.

I also made Brown Rice Sushi. I know I have posted a gratuitous amount about sushi, but this seems worthy of another mention since I managed to find brown sushi rice here in Brussels. The texture was much chewier and a touch heavier then when I have used the 'regular' white sushi rice, but it was super nummy and I felt less nasty after ingesting more then a couple of rolls.

Rhubarb, Ginger and Strawberry Pie

(For Dena)

Pie Crust
3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose if need be)
3/4 cup of vegan margarine (or you can substitute this for oil)
6 tablespoons of water (or more if you find you need it)
Extra flour for your rolling pin and counter top

Pie Innards
6 big stalks of rhubarb (cut into bit size)
1 bunch of strawberries (about 8 biggies, or 20 little guys)
1 thumb of ginger
1 lemon (you need the rind and the juicy inside)
2 tsp of cinnamon
2 tsp of cloves
2 tsp of nutmeg
3 tbsp of cornstarch
1 cup of date syrup

I cut the fruit up, added the lemon rind and the lemon juice. I grated my fresh ginger into the fruit and let it sit while I made the pie crust. For the crust I simply added the flour to a big bowl, cut the margarine into the flour, and then made two balls - one slightly larger then the other. I floured my rolling pin and counter, and did the best I could to make a circle out of each ball. I stuck the first in the bottom of a silicon pie dish, which I immediately sat on top of a cookie sheet (I knew this pie was going to be squelchy). And the second I added once I had the filling in my bowl.

To complete the filling I added the date syrup, gave it all a good mix, and then I added the remaining ingredients. The cornstarch got to work super quick thickening the filling! Who doesn't love chemistry?

I baked the pie at 350 for 55 minutes and Kevin dove right in after dinner - thumbs up all around.

VeganBaby Update: Still swimming around inside his mommy. Currently 9 days away from expected date of arrival (a.k.a. Kevin's birthday!). I still feel great (minus the continued crampy, crampy, pinchey, ouches). Can't wait!!!! Thanks for all of your supportive and warm comments about the baby - you guys rock! And just because I love you guys so much - here is Kitty Eliott giving you a little bit of kitten love!

I had a great day! It was so wonderfilled! We met great people, had excellent food, discovered new parts of our city, bought some rockin' music, found EGG REPLACER (!!!!) and I even had the chance to use a new ingredient.

We headed off downtown with the intention of getting some shopping done and meet up with our vegetarian (vegan friendly) wedding caterer extraordinaire. Her restaurant is just a touch off the funky St. Katerine Square, and despite being off the beaten trail it was heaving by the time we finished our lunch. Annabelle can be found M-F (11 - 3) at Picnik, where she and a small number of folk whip up fresh and tasty vegetarian delights. K and I both had a small bowl of her lentil soup. I followed the scrumptious soup up with a roasted veg salad (that included the unusual, but really delicious, celery root), and K had a chinese noodle and tofu salad. The price was right, the food was great and Annabelle seems to share similar beliefs about food and life as this vegan cowgirl. So, although we haven't signed any contracts yet, I think she is the one!

After lunch we stumbled upon a great chinese shop where we had an amazing tea service performed for us, and met a really funky lady whose life seemed to be spread out all over the world.

After a workout I came home to tackle some sushi/maki. Still boosted from Anke's contest, I decided to try my hand at making, amoung other sorts, some squash sushi. After wrestling with some Nori, me and my favourite almost-vegan-boy had a nice little meal on the floor, complete with some atomic wasabi and Neko Case. Good Times. We are just waiting on our Strawberry and Coconut Agar Jelly........

Squash (and other sorts) Sushi and Many Veg Maki

Ingredients:
-Squash (sliced and baked)
-Sweet Potato (sliced and baked)
-Red Pepper slices
-Cucumber slices
-avocado slices
-tofu (sliced and baked)
-sushi rice (we actually used risotto rice and washed it off after boiling)
-rice vinegar
-sesame seeds
-wasabi
-soy sauce
-nori sheets

How To:
Maki - Cook the rice, cover with 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar. I like to let it cool down for a small while. Lay a nori on the sushi mat and cover 3/4 of the nori with the rice, in the bottom 1/4 line up any combo of ingredients (it will take you a couple of trys before you become aware of how much 'stuffing' works best for your sushi), sprinkle with sesame seeds, rub cold water on the non-riced top 1/4 and roll. Some of the combos I used: Squash, red pepper and avocado. Tofu, Avocado, Cucumber.

Veg Sushi - (Squash and Asparagus in the photo). Use your hand to craft a little 'ball' or oval of rice and lay an appropriately shaped veg atop. Tie with a cut sliver of Nori.