Recipe of the Week: Nori Rolls with Ginger Sunflower Pate

I know I've shared a few versions of nori rolls over the months (you can even see me in action here), but what can I say? They can't be beat in terms of deliciousness and ease of preparation. Another great thing about nori rolls is that you can use whatever pate and veggies you have on hand.

Here's the variation I came up with this week. As I'm not a big fan of cauliflower-based rice, I was interested in Cafe Gratitude's recipe which calls for parsnip. I like to keep some basic sunflower pate in the fridge so I gave the latter an Asian twist by adding a bit of garlic and horseradish.

Colorful, super quick to assemble and tasty; the perfect summer food!

Nori Rolls with Ginger Sunflower Pate

Ginger Sunflower Pate
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
1 garlic clove
1 tbs lemon juice
1" piece fresh ginger, grated
1/8 tsp grated horseradish
Salt or tamari, to taste

Blend until smooth in food processor.


'Rice'
Adapted from Cafe Gratitude's I Am Grateful

2 cups parsnip, roughly chopped
1 med. garlic clove
3 tbs pine nuts
1/2 tsp salt

Process parsnip and garlic in food processor until rice-like consistency.

Add pine nuts and salt and process some more.


Toppings
Red or yellow peppers, julienned
Carrots, julienned
Cucumber, julienned
Thinly sliced avocado
A few sunflower or radish sprouts


Assembly
Place 1 or 2 tablespoons of 'rice' mixture on the nori sheet and spread evenly across the bottom third of the sheet leaving 1 inch of space exposed at the bottom.

On top of the rice, spread a little Ginger Sunflower Pate, roughly the size of a cigar.

Top with red bell pepper, carrot, cucumber and avocado slices.

Finish off with a few radish or sunflower sprouts.

Fold the bottom of the sheet up and over the filling, and roll the nori tightly using a bamboo mat or your fingers. (I like to use my fingers.)

Wet the top part of the nori sheet with a little water so as to seal the sushi.

Let the roll sit for about 5 minutes before cutting.

Using a sharp knife, cut the nori roll into 5 or 6 equal parts. Use a gentle see-saw motion to make it a perfect smooth cut.

Arrange on a plate. If desired, serve with Nama Shoyu, tamari or this dipping sauce in a small bowl.


For a lighter version...
First, put a nice layer of alfalfa sprouts, covering nearly half of the nori sheet.

Spread a little Ginger Sunflower Pate, roughly the size of a cigar.

Proceed as described above.

Oh and before I go...

Since we're on the topic of raw Asian food, you might want to take a peek at some other posts along the same theme:

Get Your Chopsticks Out! Part I
Get Your Chopsticks Out! Part II
Time to Fetch Those Chopsticks Again

Enjoy!