I left it until the very last minute, but I did manage to take part in this week’s VeganMoFo Iron Chef. 

As you can see, the secret ingredient this week was Sushi, or, more specifically, rice and seaweed.

I should preface this by saying that I make California rolls all the time. We used to have sushi parties in undergrad where everyone would just bring something they liked to have in their nori rolls and we’d all take part preparing them.

Since then I tend to have the makings in my kitchen, so that if I’m feeling like it I can easily throw a few rolls together. Of course I always make them almost exactly the same: carrots, avocado, peppers, and cucumber. That’s it.

So, for Iron Chef I thought I would mix it up a bit. In addition to the usuals (though no avocado… not in my kitchen at 8pm tonight when I started this) I added some fresh ginger and sliced apples. I also made my very first attempt at doing and inside/out roll, with the rice on the outside. 

I ended up coming up with three different rolls:

1. The usuals + apples + wasabi

2. Apples + ginger + tofutti cream cheese

3. The usuals + apples + ginger + tofutti, rolled inside/out, coated in sesame seeds.

I’m so happy with the combination that I think apples and ginger may join the regular cast of players. And there will definitely be more attempts at inside/out rolls.

Oh, but that’s not all folks.

Last time I took part in Iron Chef (if you will recall) I said I’d do something different… challenge myself a bit. When I first saw this challenge I wanted to make dessert sushi, but initially wimped out. Well, that just wouldn’t do. So, while I enjoyed my sushi dinner I put a pot of rice pudding on the stove to simmer.

This rice pudding was the first intentionally vegan dish that I ever made. I had finally come to terms with not being able to eat dairy and one day I had a craving for rice pudding. Don’t tell me why, I always hated it as a kid and would refuse to eat it whenever my mom made it. But for some reason this was what my body wanted. So I scoured the interwebs for a recipe and managed to meld a few together to come up with a winner.

Coconut Rice Pudding

1/2 c. basmati rice

1 can coconut milk

1 can water

1/2 c. dried cranberries

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

a few Tbsp. sweetener (maple syrup, brown sugar, agave nectar, whatever)

1. Combine rice, coconut milk, water, dried fruit, and sweetener in saucepan

2. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 min., stirring occasionally.

3. Take off heat. Add cinnamon and vanilla.

Enjoy warm or chilled.

This was my dessert of choice for a good portion of the winter. So why not mix things up a bit for the sake of the challenge. What I did was an inside/out roll made with rice pudding and then coated in chopped almonds. 

I had to freeze the pudding for a few minutes with each step (and probably could have done that for longer, but I’m an impatient person). And I ended up with a goopy mess. BUT at least I tried. And I’m eating it, it actually tastes pretty good.

Dessert Sushi

So there ya go. I kinda went out on a limb for the challenge even though it didn’t work out perfectly (at least for the dessert part). I can’t wait to find out what I get to try in next weekend’s challenge!