Here is my recipe for vegetable sushi that was in my column, Hungry Husky, in the University of Connecticut’s Daily Campus newspaper today…

I’ve been making miso soup for months now. So I figured, why not try to make sushi to go with it? I had carrots and cucumbers in my fridge, so I decided to use them both and make a vegetable sushi roll. This sushi is incredibly easy to make and tastes fresh and delicious. It is also very cleansing and healthy. If you prefer, you could get a nice cut of fish at the grocery store and try making tuna sushi or salmon sushi.

Serves: 2

Note: I say this serves two because I usually eat half the roll with miso soup. If you aren’t having the roll with anything it could simply be one serving.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 carrot

1/2 hot house cucumber

White toasted sesame seeds

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 sheet of sushi nori (seaweed)

Bamboo mat

Wooden spoon paddle

The first step in making sushi is to prepare the rice. When you go out to eat sushi, I’m sure most of you have sushi prepared with white rice. Here I decided to use short grain brown rice instead. Because white rice is refined, it loses some of its nutritional benefits. These include a loss of fiber, vitamins and minerals. So to increase the health benefits of my sushi, I steered clear of white rice and stuck with the more nutritional brown rice.

For every one cup of rice you make, you need 1.5 cups of water. I decided to make two cups of rice because more is better than less. So I put three cups of water into a pot over medium high heat to boil. Once the water was boiling I added my rice, turned the heat down to low and let the rice cook for about thirty minutes. You want the rice to cook until all of the water has evaporated leaving you brown, fluffy rice.

Next, I unrolled the bamboo mat and placed a sheet of sushi nori on it. Then, I prepared my vegetables. I washed the carrot, peeled it and then I cut off both ends and cut into thin, long strips. I washed the hot house cucumber and cut it in half. I made sure to cut off the end of the cucumber. I then cut the cucumber into long, thin strips.

With the vegetables ready, I used my wooden spoon paddle to flatten a scoop of rice evenly on the nori.

When I had an even layer of brown rice on the nori, I sprinkled white toasted sesame seeds over the rice to provide additional texture and flavor. Next, I placed about eight strips each of the carrot and cucumber on the rice and then proceeded to carefully roll the sushi together, holding it tightly in my hands to prevent a loose and messy roll. Once rolled, I took a wet knife and cut it into slices. If the knife is not wet, it is virtually impossible to make a clean cut. Once sliced, enjoy the sushi by itself, with soy sauce or perhaps miso soup!

Nutrition facts were calculated using SparksRecipes calculator after inputting my recipe for miso soup. These facts can be seen below: