Since I don’t use raw fish at home, I have resorted to making other types of sushi.  I’ve made teriyaki beef sushi, (cooked) tuna sushi, but mostly I make vegetable sushi because everyone else in my family favors the vegetable one.  To be honest, it’s not entirely made of vegetables, as I include avocado as well and we all know that avocados are fruit!

I’ve posted a recipe for sushi a few years ago, but it wasn’t exactly the best post (in fact, I don’t even want to link to it!).  It was my first attempt at making sushi and I didn’t even include a recipe or instructions on how to make it – I just linked to another blog where I had found a great sushi tutorial.  Now, I can make this particular type of sushi without looking at a recipe and it is one of the easiest meals/snacks to prepare.

You should be able to find most of these ingredients in your grocery store – perhaps try looking in the Asian/international section if you have trouble finding anything.  If you have an Asian grocery store nearby, then you’re definitely all good to go.

First, you’ll need sushi rice, which is a short-grained rice.  Prepare this according to the directions on the package.  For mine, I use 1 cup of rice and 1 1/2 cups of water. The rice will need to be rinsed in a sieve under running water until the water runs clear. I pour the rice in a medium-sized saucepan, add the 1 1/2 cups of water, and bring it to the boil, shaking occasionally to stir.  Once it comes to a boil, I immediately turn the heat down to very low, put the lid on the pan and cook for 12 minutes.  After 12 minutes, I take the pan off the heat and leave it to sit, still covered, for another 10 minutes.

During this 22 minutes, I prepare the vegetables I will be using and any sauces.  In this particular case, I julienne 1 carrot, 1 Lebanese cucumber (I do not use the mushy center though) and slice 1 avocado.  If you have a mandolin slicer with a julienne attachment, as I do, this makes preparation so much quicker and easier.  I also make the wasabi mayonnaise to put inside the sushi roll, which is simply a mix of wasabi and mayonnaise.  I use approximately 1 teaspoon of wasabi per each 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise.  Quantities you use will depend on your tastes.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that I do love wasabi!  It’s such an unusual sensation, but if you’re not a fan of hot or spicy food, then I recommend to skip the wasabi.  You could just simply use plain mayonnaise, or don’t use any sauce at all.

Okay, so after the rice sits for 10 minutes (or whatever is recommended on the package), take the lid off, and fluff the rice up with a fork.  Pour the rice onto a large-ish tray (non-metallic) and spread it out into a thin layer.  Pour/shake over approximately 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar and use a spoon to stir it through the rice.  When mixed, make sure to spread the rice out into a thin layer again and fan it to cool it quickly.  Use a notebook, a piece of cardboard, whatever you have lying around.

Lay out a bamboo sushi mat and place a square of nori seaweed, shiny side down, on the mat.  You should be able to find a bamboo sushi mat in the international section of your grocery store, an Asian grocery store, or perhaps a kitchen supplies store.  I got mine at my local grocery store for under $2.

Next, you’ll need to gather up some rice from the tray and spread it into a thin layer on the seaweed.  I don’t have an exact quantity of rice to use, I would guess it would approximately be 1/2 cup.  Spread the rice with the back of a spoon to 3 edges of the seaweed, but leave about a 2cm border at the edge of the seaweed furthest from you – see photo above.

Oh, and be sure to have a little cup of plain water on hand.  You can dip your fingers in the water if the rice sticks to your fingers.

Next, spread on a thin layer of wasabi mayonnaise towards the edge of the seaweed that is nearest you.  Then, place your veggies on top.  I usually use 4 strips of carrot, 4 strips of cucumber and 3 slices of avocado.  If you have carrots or cucumber overhanging the edges of the seaweed, use a knife to chop the excess off.

And now, the tricky part.  Rolling it up!  Really, it isn’t that tricky though.  Take the edge of the bamboo mat that is nearest you and just roll it up.  I sometimes have to hold the avocado in with the tips of my fingers because it likes to slip out of the roll on occasion.  Just use the mat to firmly roll up the seaweed as you go.  When you get to that 2cm border on the far end of the seaweed, stop here for a moment.  Dip a finger into that cup of water I told you to have on hand and use your wet finger to spread the water along that 2cm border of seaweed.  It doesn’t need to be saturated.  This will help to seal it when you finish rolling.  When you’re done, just finish rolling the seaweed up and there you have a perfect roll of sushi!

Before you cut it into slices, I recommend refrigerating it for about 30 minutes.  I find that it cuts easier if it has been refrigerated.  When it is time to slice, have a tall cup of water nearby, or some running water.  You will need to dip a sharp, serrated knife into the water before each slice to make a clean cut.  Use a gentle sawing motion to slice the roll.  You can just slice it half, or slice it into 8 rounds, or however you want.

With the portion of rice that I use, I can make 3 rolls.

Sushi is very versatile, so try adding your favorite vegetables and meats to create a winning combination.  Just be careful not to stuff the sushi to full, or roll it too tight, or the seaweed might start to split.

I am, by no means, an expert on sushi.  I just wanted to share this particular recipe with you and tell you what works for me!

What is your favorite sushi?

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I hate growing up!

Something else I miss is the magic of fairy tales.  Like Cinderella, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk… they seemed so real and magical when my mom would read them to me.  Now, I have to hold back my comments on how unreal and ridiculous the stories are!  How can Jack climb up that beanstalk if it’s so tall?  It would take him days and days to do that, he’d need to take food and other supplies, not to mention the fact that he couldn’t actually climb that high anyway because of the lack of oxygen!  Oh, and not to mention the fact that there is not a magical land above the clouds where a giant shouts Fee Fi Fo Fum and eats humans!

For kids though, it’s totally different.  My son planted “magic beans” outside to have them grow into a beanstalk so he can climb up it!  Well, let’s just say that those beans haven’t yet grown…

As we are currently on a fairy-tale kick in our house, I welcomed the latest issue of delicious. magazine because there is fantastic article full of fairy-tale inspired recipes.  Peter Rabbit, Jack and the Beanstalk, Princess and the Pea, Goldilocks, Hansel & Gretel!  And the recipes look fantastic – they are each cleverly adapted to their respective fairy tale.  I set myself on a mission to try each recipe.

In this post, I’ll show you the first two fairy tale recipes that I have made from this article.  They were both very delicious, and while my 4-year-old son wasn’t very keen on them (he’s not a veggie-eater!), my 6-year-old daughter gobbled them up.

The first recipe is inspired by Peter Rabbit.  These are Mr McGregor’s Winter-Garden Vegetable Pies.  These pies contain an all-veggie filling with mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, brussels sprouts and corn and are held together in a golden shortcrust pastry.  Despite the look, these are quite easy to make.

The recipe is at the bottom of this post.

The second recipe we have tried is Jack and the Beanstalk’s Magic Bean Stew.  This is an extremely simple stew that have the kids thinking they’re eating magic beans and that a beanstalk will grow in their belly!  It’s very hearty and warming, making it perfect for a cold winter tonight.

In this bean stew, you’ll find celery, bacon, potatoes and tomatoes.  The beans are simply a mix of canned beans.  The parsley helps to brighten it up a bit.

If you love the idea of creating recipes inspired by fairy tales, keep a watch on my blog because I intend to try each of the recipes from the article in delicious. magazine and post about them here!

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I try to feed my kids healthy foods, but there are those evenings when there’s only time for a frozen pizza, or French fries, or chicken nuggets.  And of course, if I’ve made cupcakes we’ll have those for dessert.  I always feel guilty about it, but if I look over the course of a week or so I realize that they’ve gotten plenty of other healthy lunches and dinners and I don’t feel so bad.  Besides, I’m a firm believer in having a treat every so often!

When it comes to fruits and vegetables, my kids prefer them raw.  If I’ve taken the time to cook any vegetables, they’ll usually always think it’s disgusting.  So you’ll find a lot of chopped cucumber, celery, carrots, apples, etc. in the refrigerator along with various dips such as hummus, or avocado.  Most of the time I remind myself to not waste time cooking the vegetables, but sometimes I’ll find a recipe that just looks too interesting to pass up.

If you live here in Sydney, you may have seen an ad on the TV recently sponsored by Woolworth’s.  In the ad, Annette cooks a special, quick and healthy dish for children called Orange Pasta.  Annette juliennes some carrots and cooks them with diced tomatoes and some onions and serves plates of this Orange Pasta with shredded cheese and parsley.  Apparently, her children don’t realize that the “pasta” is actually julienned carrots.

I thought it would probably be easy for my kids to distinguish between regular pasta and carrots and that they wouldn’t eat this Orange Pasta, but I thought it looked interesting and that I’d give it a try.

The preparation was quick and easy and the cooking time was next to nothing.  The hardest part is chopping the carrots into matchstick pieces, but it’s easy if you’ve got the proper tools, such as a julienne peeler.

Here are my notes from the recipe:  I found that I needed to cook the carrots a bit longer than 1 minute to cook them properly and to soften them just a bit; I used half of a red onion instead of a whole one; I used extra virgin coconut oil instead of olive oil; I used Parmesan cheese instead of cheddar cheese.

My conclusion is that this is an excellent vegetable dish.  I’d like to use it as a side dish sometime, but it would make a great main dish for a child who actually liked it.  My 4-year-old daughter took a couple of bites but decided she didn’t like it at all.  And I just didn’t even bother trying with my 2-year-old son!

Orange Pasta
Adapted from Woolworth’s
Serves 2

Ingredients
3 medium carrots
3 tbs olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
200g can diced Italian tomatoes
1 small clove garlic, chopped
salt and pepper, optional
fresh parsley, chopped to serve
shredded Parmesan cheese to serve

Method
Wash the carrots well, then peel them into long thin strips.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on medium-high. Add onion and garlic and allow to soften.

Add carrot strips and toss them continually for a minute or until just cooked. Stir in chopped tomatoes and season if desired.

Remove the pan from the heat and serve with a sprinkling of tasty cheese and chopped parsley.

But first, last night’s dinner.  My mom has turned to a diet of organic and healthy foods, so she decided to cook up some samples of what she’s been eating for me.

We had organic sweet potato soup (swirled with cinnamon and dotted with mini marshmallows), steamed broccoli and cauliflower and a lightly seasoned salmon fillet.  It was really yummy!

And now the morel mushrooms.  As everyone knows, it’s morel season now and my dad found quite a few good-sized morels in the woods behind my parents’ house in the country.

The one lying in the very front is approximately six inches long!  While my mom has been here with me, my dad has been at home feasting on these morels!