Red Quinoa & Smoked Salmon Sushi - A Low GI Alternative to Sushi Rolls

Nori Maki is my favorite sushi!! I adore the taste of the nori seaweed paper and the sweet and tangy rice vinegar soaked sticky sushi rice! I've been hooked ever since my Sushi for Beginners class in Ballymaloe (see previous blog post here). I've been obsessed lately with trying to eat foods with a low GI, and trying to pair the correct foods together. I was shocked to see sushi rice so high on the glycemic index (89). Not one to say good bye to my beloved nori maki rolls, I set about trying to find an alternative for the high GI rice. After all, every other part of the rolls are extremely healthy.

That's when I discovered that the awesome quinoa could do the same job as the rice. I have developed quite an obsession for red quinoa, I love the crunchier texture over white quinoa, but they both still have the same nutrient make up more or less. I'll admit that white quinoa is fluffier and probably be easier to work with from a 'sticky' perspective, but I think that the red quinoa just has more flavor, dammit!! :)

There is something so satisfying about rolling nori maki rolls. I can't put my finger on it, it's reminds me of make and do as a child and has a fun playful aspect to it. It's actually childsplay to make and you'll find that you become more confident and accomplished as you progress from rolling your first roll to the final one.

I have an endless supply of gorgeous fresh smoked salmon in my kitchen from the Bed and Breakfast so I robbed some for my dinner to make these rolls. We get our salmon delivered to the door from a local supplier and it's definately worth buying your smoked salmon locally. There is no comparison with the cheaper supermarket alternatives. If you don't like/have smoked salmon you can use pretty much anything, prawns, crab, or go completely veggie, and have a rainbow of peppers and cucumbers. There are no rules!! Afterall, I'm not even using rice!

I will say you can't have sushi without wasabi, pickled ginger or soy! Now that's a deal breaker! I love the hot hit you get from wasabi, so I spread it on my salmon in the roll, but if you're not that hard core, just plant a blob of it on the side of your plate and dip in the roll after. The 'hot hit' though is an addictive feeling.

Here's the recipe to my favorite, but use this as a guide and substitute in the ingredients you like

Makes 4 Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 cup of red quinoa
• 2 cups of water
• 4 tbsp japanese rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 4 nori sheets, try to source a sushi rolling bamboo mat also. They are usually sold along side the nori sheets. It makes rolling so much easier.
• 50g of smoked salmon, sliced thinly
• Thinly sliced variety of peppers, carrots, and cucumber
• 1 tube of wasabi
• soy sauce
• pickled ginger

Method

1. Firstly you must cook you quinoa. Add 2 cups of water to a saucepan, bring to a boil, add the the quinoa and cook on a simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Drain well.
3. Spread the quinoa out in a dish and mix in the vinegar, salt and sugar and make sure everything gets well coated.
4. Allow the quinoa to cool.
5. Get your bamboo rolling mat and place in front of you.
6. Wave a sheet of nori over the hob, careful not to burn, but just to heat slightly to make the sheet more pliable.
7. Place the nori sheet on the bamboo mat, shiny side down.
8. Spread a thin layer of quinoa over the the whole sheet, out to the edges, leaving a small space at the top side of the sheet to seal it. 
9. Lay the smoked salmon and the vegetables (whichever combination you prefer) on the side nearest you. Careful not to over fill as the roll will burst if over filled. I know this from vast greedy experience.
10. Dab the empty edge of the nori sheet with rice vinegar using your finger. This is your glue.
11. Carefully , as tight as you can, start rolling the the roll, away from you.
12. I like to cut the ends of the sushi rolls normally for a cleaner finish, and these ends are cooks treat.
13. Cut the roll in half, and then cut those halves in half, and finally , cut those pieces in half. You should have eight pieces, for small bites. you can make them bigger, but the sushi etiquette is to be able to eat your roll in one mouth full, and I don't know about you, but my mouth isn't big enough for anything bigger than 1/8 of a roll at a time.

To serve, put a 'blob' of wasabi on the side of the plate, soy sauce in a dish and pickled ginger on the side. Dip and enjoy.

Honey & Teriyaki Salmon

Happy New Year everyone!!!! The start of January for me has always been a time for healthy, low fat meals, after a normally over-indulgence Christmas season. This Christmas was particularly over indulgent, so for that reason I have to have an extra healthy low fat start to 2012.
This recipe is easing me into healthy dinners again, with fresh stir fried vegetables, a small portion of egg noodles and some fresh salmon fillets oven baked in a quick teriyaki marinade.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 Salmon fillets
• 1 tbsp of runny honey
• 3 tbsp of shop bought teriyaki marinade
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and diced
• 1/2 a red chilli, diced
• 100g of dried egg noddles
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of groundnut oil
• All sorted Stirfry veggies, i.e. mushrooms, mangtout, brocolli, red pepper, spring onions (Whatever you have to hand, but best to bulk up on veggies for a healthy low fat dinner)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2. Place the salmon on some foil in an oven proof dish (you'll thank me later, the marinade is not kind to dishes and stubborn to wash off)
3. In a jug, mix the teriyaki marinade and the honey together and pour over the salmon.
4. Meanwhile, chop all your veggies for the stir fry. Try to cut them into the same size so they cook through at the same time.
5. Place the salmon in the oven for 12 minutes.
6. Get a pan of water on the boil. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions.
7. Pour some oil into a wok and add the garlic, ginger and chilli. Then heat the wok up to high and quickly stir fry the aromatics.
8. Add the veggies, starting with the biggest ones first and working your way through to the veggies that take the shortest time to cook.
9. Add a splash of water to the stir fry to help the veggies steam a little the soy sauce.

Japanese Calamari with Sweet Chilli Mayo

These calamaris are a fantastic drinks canape for the party season. The slow baking of the calamari makes the squid really tender, avoiding the normally rubbery texture of over cooked calamari which is deep fried, a bonus then that this method of cooking calamari is way lighter on calories.Whoop!!!

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 3 Squid pockets (frozen is fine and defrost overnight in the fridge)
• Panko Japanese Breadcrumbs (pulse 4 slices of toast if you can't get panko breadcrumbs)
• 1 cup of cornflour
• salt/pepper
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 egg, beaten

Sweet Chilli Mayo

• 1/2 cup good quality mayo
• 2 tbsp of sweet chili sauce
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt/pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper, sprayed with low fat cooking spray 
2. Cut the squid pocket into rings
3. Combine the cumin powder, salt and pepper to the flour and put in shallow bowl
4. break up the egg and put in another shallow bowl
5. Put the panko breadcrumbs in yet a another bowl
6. Dip the squid rings one at a time into the flour mixture, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs and place them in single layer on baking tray.
7. Baked for 18-20 minutes
8. For the mayo, combine the mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper and sweet chilli sauce. Transfer to a clean bowl for serving.
9. Place the rings in a bowl along side the spicy mayo and dig in. I guarantee you will be left wanting more!

Seasoned French Fries and Wasabi Mayo

These are another great canape for a drinks party. Who doesn't like french fries?!!!! These are a little posh and served with a wasabi mayo for a grown-up kick.

Ingredients

• 5 potatoes, chopped thinly with skins still on.
• 1 tbsp of Arromat all purpose seasoning
• 1 tsp of wasabi paste
• 6 tbsp of good quality mayo
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped

Method

1. These are 3 times cooked chips, the only method for the ultimate crispy, fluffy chip.
2. Add the chopped potato to a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil on a high heat.
3. Drain the potatoes when the water comes to the boil, and allow to rest in the colander so the steam leaves the potatoes.
4. Add the chips to a deep fryer and fry until almost cooked through.
5. Remove from the fat, and rest until just before you are ready to serve.
6. Add the fries to the fat for one last blast, until nice and golden.
7. Drain on some kitchen paper and douce with the Arromat seasoning.
8. Serve with the wasabi mayo, which is made by simply combining the wasabi paste, spring onion and mayo.

Tempura Prawns & Vegetable Bites

These little bites are devine with drinks or as a starter. They are not kind to the waist line though, so must be reserved as a treat only. The secret to good tempura lies in the batter. The batter should not be over whisked, and freezing cold sparkling water should be used. The result is a batter that instantly puffs up and it’s actually a really light, fluffy batter. Make the batter really last minute, it looses air if left to stand for any length of time.

I used this tempura to make a combination of tempura vegetables and tempura prawn. I served these with a wasabi mayonnaise for a little kick. Though easy on the wasabi, a little goes a long way!

Serves 6 for a starter

Ingredients

The Batter

• 1 cup of plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of freezing cold sparkling water

The Tempura ingredients

• 18 raw prawns, deveined and shelled
• ½ aubergine, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 2 red onions, quartered

The Wasabi Mayonnaise

• ½ tsp of wasabi paste
• Juice of a lime
• 3 tbsp of good quality mayonnaise

Method

1. First, get your deep fryer hot, to 180 degrees
2. Then get you veggies and prawns prepared.
3. When just ready to cook, make the batter. Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl, add the flour and then the water. Combine, but don’t over whisk it.
4. Dunk each piece of vegetable in the batter, shake off excess and then lower into the hot oil, with the basket already down.
5. They are ready when they float to the surface and are golden. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm until all the frying is complete.
6. To make the mayonnaise, combine all the ingredients, taste to see if extra mayo or wasabi needed.

Beef Teriyaki & Chicken Yakatori Skewers

The homemade teriyaki & yakatori marinades really are a must!! They tenderises the meat perfectly. We have gone crazy on Japanese food since our Ballymaloe sushi course. Up to now, we were deep frying or sushi rolling. But these skewers are actually really healthy, as they are lean cuts of meat, marinated in nothing oily, and then griddled. Both marinades are so similar, they could be variations of each other actaully.

Serves 6

Ingredients

Beef Teriyaki

• 3 tbsp of mirin
• 4 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar

• 3 sirloin steaks, cut into thin strips

Chicken Yakatori

• 3 tbsp of mirin
• 4 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar
• 2 Finely chopped Spring onions
• Juice half a lime

• 3 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

Method

1. Combine the marinade ingredients together
2. Soak the beef and the chicken in their relevant marinades for at least 30 minutes
3. Skewer the meat onto metal skewers (or use soaked wooden skewers)
4. Preheat the griddle pan.
5. Place the skewers on the pan, turning occasionally until browned all the way round. Alternatively you can pop them under a preheated grill for same amount of time.
6. Serve with some rice noodles.

Fragrant Panko Prawns

These deep fried prawns went down a treat recently, we were actually fighting over the last couple in the bowl. These are a naughty treat, and certainly not something one would have every day, but every once in a while, one needs a treat. These are the perfect starter, or canapé with drinks.

Serves 4 for a starter

Ingredients

• 16 prawns, raw and shelled and deveined
• 2 eggs, beaten in a bowl
• 1 cup of cornflour, laid on a plate, seasoned with salt & pepper
• ½ cup desiccated coconut flakes
• ½ cup of panko breadcrumbs
• Salt & pepper

To serve: leafy greens and sweet chilli sauce

Method

1. Heat up your deep fryer to 180 degrees
2. Get an assembly line going, with the cornflour, the eggs and the coconut bread crumbs in a row.
3. Dredge each prawn in the cornflour, tap the excess off, then add to the egg, tapping the excess again.
4. Finally, place in the crumb bowl, and press in the coating.
5. Lay on a plate until ready to deep fry.
6. Then fry in the deep fryer for 4 minutes.
7. Drain on kitchen paper
8. Place 4 prawns per person on a plate of decorative greens, with a wedge of lemon and some sweet chilli sauce.

 Tip:If you are unable to find panko, toast stale bread and then whizz it into breadcrumbs.