Sunday, June 17, 2007

A weekend in food

After making sushi on Thursday night, I got excited about it and so Friday I decided to make myself some raw sushi for lunch.


I used alfalfa sprouts instead of rice, and the filling consisted of strips of raw zucchini, mushrooms, and green onions, all marinated for just a few minutes in a mixture of tamari, ginger, and sesame oil. I spread a thin layer of wasabi paste into the roll for some extra flavor. This was fantastic and far, far easier than dealing with sticky rice. A side of steamed edamame rounded out the meal quite well.

That evening, Bob and I met up with our friend Vesna and decided to go to The Grit for dinner, just one last time before he and I leave Athens (in less than a month now--wow!). I wasn't too hungry so I ordered a tabbouli salad, and ended up taking half of it home with me.


Bob ordered the noodle bowl--the day's sauce was a creamy roasted garlic sauce, which was kind of spicy and very smooth, but too much garlic flavor for me.


The three of us also shared an order of sweet potato fries. They're hard to pass up at The Grit, being seasoned so well with chili powder and cinnamon. See? We almost ate them all up before I remembered to take a picture. Hee hee.


So with that, Bob and I bid The Grit farewell--at least until we come back for a visit.

Yesterday for lunch I wanted to try raw zucchini noodles, which I made with my vegetable peeler. I've never used zucchini as pasta before, but it is something I will do again. This lunch was so light and fresh, with tomatoes and mushrooms and SusanV's white bean pesto, and a sprinkling of sea salt, sesame seeds, and nutritional yeast.



Last night we went to Vesna's for a stir-fry:


And she ended up crashing at our place, so I made a special breakfast of Vive's Blueberry Bounty Buns and fresh cantaloupe. The buns were delicious and not too sweet, and a cup of mandarin orange herbal tea complemented them so nicely.


The end.

23 comments:

Amey said...

mmmm!
so many good eats! That reminds me to make that White Bean Pesto again, it's SO good!

glad you had a fun day!

Unknown said...

Too much garlic? I find that difficult to believe! ;-)

Anonymous said...

What a great post! I love the idea of sprouts in "sushi."

Did you really just use a vegetable peeler for the zucchini? I love the idea of making "pasta" out of zucchini, however, when I have tried in the past it has not worked out very well! Yours looks great, though! Your strips look nice and thin...mine are always so wide. The photo is beautiful, by the way!

Courtney

Anonymous said...

great post! beautifull sushi!

laura k said...

Amey, yes! Make it again - it's delicious! :)

Ron and Ginny, I love your name! I used to think too much garlic was impossible, but then a roasted garlic dish had a fight with my tummy and I can only take it in small doses ever since!

Courtney, I did use a vegetable peeler - I cut the zucchini in half first, and then I sliced it along the "boxy" edges so that the strips were thin... Does that explanation even make sense?!

Johanna, thanks!

aTxVegn said...

I love zucchini pasta! I'm glad you tried decided to try it. And once again, you're sushi is beautiful. You're a natural!

Brooke said...

Those sweet potato fries are making me crazy! I think I will go make some right now.

Teresa said...

Beautiful and super fun SUSHI! Your last time at the Grit before you leave- how sad. And I'm with Ron and Ginny on wondering how too much garlic is possible!

btw, How'd the exams go?

-Teresa

theONLYtania said...

The raw sushi is awesome!

And that's some nice looking food from The Grit, especially the fries heh. Mmm.

Hmm raw zucchini noodles.. interesting idea. I may have to try it!

laura k said...

Diann, the zucchini pasta is definitely a great idea, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to it! Thanks for your confidence in my sushi skills... I don't know if I'm a natural, but as I make it more it definitely gets easier!

Brooke, LOL - I have that reaction sometimes too! Sweet potatoes in any form are hard to pass up...

Teresa, it isn't really that sad. After all, The Grit will still be here, and it's only 1.5 hours away! My exam isn't until July 6.

Tania, the zucchini pasta is a great way to enjoy some special foods of summer. I'd definitely recommend it!

Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! said...

that sushi looks amazing, what a fantastic idea! i often don't want sushi because it just has too much rice for me in a sitting. luckily our fav japanese restaurant has a roll that's just pickeled veggies wrapped in thinly sliced cucumber. unable to duplicate it at home, i am soooo looking forward to trying the likes of yours!

looooove zuchini 'pasta' and this is just the time to be making it. i've also been staring at a couple cans of northern beans in the pantry thinking 'it is entirely too hot for them. sigh' but no longer! i just have to try that pesto this week. thx for the inspiration.

everything looks great. i just got the Grit's cookbook not too long ago and that yeast gravy? OH. MY.

Anonymous said...

honestly...that sushi looks incredible. I've gotta do that someday!

KleoPatra said...

Wow, Laura, i swear i commented on this but again it didn't show up!! Weird!

I love the sushi. It looks like the kind one might get at a fancy restaurant only CRUELTY-FREE. Divine. And i am a big fan of steamed edamame. I love the soft shells, they have that fine hair on them, almost like peaches, and when they're warm, it's fun to slip the edamame out one by one.

Among other things, i gave my dad a bag of roasted edamame. He's never had them. i eat them for high protein snacks and hope he falls in love with this snack as i have and that he will switch out his high-fat cashews for edamame...

I also commented about The Grit and how i hope someday to get there 'cause you talk it up and it has me already champin' at the bit, as they say (annoying horse racing lingo).

Those Bounty Buns from Vive look stupendous, especially next to that sweet cantaloupe (which almost looks like mango chunks!)... How nice of you to make such a sweet breakfast for your pal. Yer such a sweetie.

Zucchini as pasta. Hmmmm... i have used spaghetti squash as pasta (not the best tradeoff, but good in and of its own accord). That looks so colourful and healthy. Love that.

Carrie™ said...

What a fantastic idea for sushi! That would be so totally tasty! The food from the restaurant looks awesome! As do the blueberry buns. Looks like it was a good weekend.

Jackie said...

The sushi looks amazing. I really must get off my butt and make some as I have all the ingredients.

laura k said...

DGMGV, I know what you mean - sushi rice can be a bit excessive. I'm going to start experimenting with brown rice, but even still... And YES!! I've actually been craving the yeast gravy recently - it's amazing! I hope you are enjoying the cookbook!

Megan, thanks! It's super simple...

Kleo, roasted edamame sounds superb - I've never had it, but it does sound like a healthy alternative to cashews! Great gift for dad! Oh yes, and I do hope you get to go to The Grit someday... let me know when you're in this part of the country and it'll be a date! :)

Carrie, thanks! It was a good weekend, food wise and otherwise!

Jackie, I can identify with that statement. Sometimes it just seems daunting even when you know it's not that bad and that you'll be glad you did it.

Vegan_Noodle said...

Wow, that sushi looks great, and how creative to use sprouts instead of rice!
I love zucchini pasta as well, I have started eating it raw quite often now. If it's something you think you'll make a lot, I would highly recommend the spiral slicer, it makes zucchini (or yellow squash, or cucumber, etc)pasta a snap!

Jennifer C. said...

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...raw sushi. Think I'll have it for dinner tonight! Thanks for the inspiration.

JENNA said...

your sushi is beautiful! i hate hate hate seaweed..whenever i see sushi rolls i wish i didn't hate hate hate seaweed..i've actually tried to force myself to like it with no good results. everything else looks yummy as usual.

JENNA

Unknown said...

I love the sushi, I normally avoid it like the plague because of sticky rice! :)
Thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

what a wonderful post! your raw sushi looks absolutely amazing!

Kati said...

Farewell to The Grit! We in the blogosphere will miss all your yummy food (via photos). I would definitely go for that noodle bowl, especially since I love garlic.

Way to go with that sushi! I still have trouble cutting mine. I think my knife is dull...

Gabelle said...

Thanks for sharing the sushi recipe.My husband and I are on our 8th raw day and really enjoying it.
:-)