4×4 Veggie Rolls

One of my favorite things to do when I’m home with a lot of time on my hands, and little to do, is to take cooking classes. I love to go to this place called “Atelier des Chefs”, meaning “Chef’s Workshop”, for their 30-minutes lunch formula. You learn how to make a recipe from start to finish and get to eat what you cooked at a communal table with the rest of the class. It’s a fantastic format! A few years back, I took a sushi/maki class there, where I learned how to “roll” for the first time.

I loved it, but to be honest I never got to make makis ever since. At least until today, when I felt like it was time for me bring out the Nori (seaweed) outside of the cupboard. I eat sushi multiple times a week, and it tends to get pricey. Making them quickly at home, is much better for my budget, and also really gratifying. So I went for an arrangement of 4 veggie rolls: cucumber-mint-cream cheese, maple-sweet potato, the “classic “cucumber-carrot-avocado, and my original “Mediterranean”, with hummus-carrots-cucumbers. You can try them all, or pick your favorites, but they’re all worth the time and effort! Bon appétit!

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Total time: 5 minutes per roll with pre-cooked rice, or 25 minutes

Ingredients: makes 4 rolls

• 1/2 cup dried sushi rice (don’t use regular or basmati, it won’t stick!)
• 1 cup water
• 2 sheet of Nori (seaweed), cut in half
• parchment paper

For the Cucumber-Mint-Cream Cheese:
• 1/4 cucumber
• 1 tbsp cream cheese
• 3 mint leaves

For the Maple-Sweet Potato:
• 1/2 sweet potato (roasted or boiled)
• 1 drizzle of maple syrup
• 1 drizzle of olive oil
• 1/2 green onion
• salt & pepper

For the “Classic”:
• 1/4 carrot
• 1/4 avocado
• 1/4 cucumber

For the “Mediterranean”:
• 1/2 tomato
• 1/4 carrot
• hummus
• Italian parsley

Directions:

1. Start off by cooking the rice. In a rice cooker, put two parts water, to one part rice. Here, 1 cup water, and 1/2 cup rice. Let it cook until all the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. If cooking on the stove, use equal parts rice and water. Once the rice is done, let it cool.
2. Meanwhile, cut your vegetables. Make thin strips with the cucumber, carrot, avocado, and tomato. Roughly chop the herbs and green onion, and mash the roasted sweet potato with the maple syrup, olive oil, green onion and salt & pepper.
3. To roll your maki, place a sheet of Nori on some parchment paper. Cover the seaweed with a thin layer of rice, and make sure to leave about an inch free, on the side opposite to you (this will be used to seal your roll). Here, you can flip the seaweed if you want the rice to be on the outside, otherwise just leave it as is. For each roll, put the specific fillings in a strip at the center of the rice (or seaweed). Next, roll each maki by lifting the parchment paper and rolling it tightly around the filling at the center. Lightly pull the roll towards you, to make sure that it holds together, and keep rolling until you reach the last strip of seaweed. Put some water on it to make it stick, and finish rolling.
4. To cut each roll, slice it in the middle, stack the two pieces, and slice again. Enjoy with soy sauce, and a touch of wasabi.

TIP: Supposedly bamboo mats make it easier to roll, but I don’t own one and don’t find it to be necessary. 

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