Category: Blog

Last night our “Valley of the Moon” aka ‘Ojai Valley Community Garden’ group met for our first ‘potluck’ dinner.  It was well attended, full of delightful conversation(s), and we had lot’s of tasty foods to try.  We met in the Keith’s Club House- Thank you Keith & Robin -again!

Here’s what I brought, I’m going to call it: Vegan Sushi Rolls-

Ingredients;

about 10 Spring Roll Skins (run warm water over them and use right away)
Finely chop &/or grate vegies of your choice-
I chose:
Red Bell Pepper
Asparagus
Fennel Root
Carrots
Avocado (leave the avocado about 1/2″ size cubed)
Wild or brown rice (wild is visually more appealing)
Black sesame seeds (great fleck of color, tastes amazing & they’re so good for you!)
Splash of rice wine vinegar
Squeeze of fresh lemon (I occasionally add a bit of zest too)

Do not chop, but wash, carefully spin or let air dry
Cilantro (separate by the leaves)
Nasturtium flowers (separate by the flower or the petals- this adds a little spice and lovely color)

FYI: I suggest that you practice a time or two with the slightly temperamental wraps-  ONLY get them wet, ONE AT A TIME- plan on scraping one as you practice.  Don’t lay them together when they’re wet-  I’m convinced this is how the ‘super ball’ was invented…

I recommend that you uniformly cut/chop/grate your vegetables- (carrots: grated, fennel root: chopped fine, etc)
Place all vegies in a bowl, large enough to toss as you would a salad.
Add all but the cilantro and the nasturtium & toss.

Next, run the rice paper under warm tap water until it changes from hard to mailable.  Lay it on a very thin kitchen cloth (no fuzz), and lightly dab off the excess water.  I then very lightly spray olive oil “Pam” on a olive serving tray to assist in forming the rolls-  Lay the rice paper across the olive oil tray & push in the center, forming the cavity to fill with the vegetable mixture.

The first item(s) I place on the rice paper are the nasturtium flower petals, & the cilantro leaf (this is the splash of color you’ll see best when the rolls are completed).
Next add about 3 T. of the vegetable/rice mixture to the rice paper.
Pull up ends of the rice paper, then one side at a time- all the while attempting to create a uniform sushi-looking roll.

Lightly sprinkle black sesame seeds on top of each roll if you’d like a bit more flavor, texture and an Asian flair-
These wraps are translucent & make very pretty finger-food.
Practice a bit and see if you can get them rolled long & lean, like a sushi roll; about 2″ wide by about 7″ long.

Savory Dipping Sauce

Peanut Butter (freshly ground tastes best)
Ojai Jalapeño Jelly or Ojai Habanero Jelly

Mix the peanut butter with the Ojai Pepper Jelly until you like the consistency, as well as the heat factor.
It’s best to serve the sauce with a small serving spoon, so it can be dribbled on the roll.  Often people like to add sauce as they go & we don’t want them double dipping now do we!

Serve on a plain platter, so you can enjoy the natural colors of the ingredients.

enjoy!