Sushi Just Got Sexy

Sushi has always been a pretty sexy, healthy meal. With omega-3 filled salmon and avocado, cooling cucumber, zingy ginger and seaweed (a bone fide superfood) featuring as common ingredients, it's hard not to think of this as a little roll of wonder. 

Now meet sushi v2.0 - that's right, sushi has been vegetated. Because although all the ingredients listed above are super-fantastic-amaze-foods, a roll of sushi also contains a whole lotta white rice. Which I am not a fan of (see post here).

So, to vegetatemyplate this bad boy, it's just a simple swap - bulgur wheat or quinoa in lieu of rice (or both, as pictured).

So why quinoa?

The only vegetarian source of complete protein, quinoa will get you full and stay there. 

And why bulgur wheat?

It packs a much bigger fibre punch than white rice, and has a very yummy, nutty flavour. 

Let's do it. 

What You'll Need:

Makes 3 x 10cm rolls

- 3 sheets sushi nori (available in all big supermarkets)

- 1 cup bulgur wheat or quinoa

- 3 cups water

+ sushi fillings. Popular options include: avocado, cucumber, prawns, ginger, salmon...

The How-To:

- Add water to bulgur wheat/quinoa and boil hard for 10 minutes

- turn down heat and simmer for additional 5-10 mins (bulgur wheat) or 10-15 mins (quinoa) until water is absorbed and grains are not crunchy. 

- spread an even layer of the grain across a seaweed sheet, leaving a 1cm gap at the top and bottom

- make a strip of fillings in a little pile across the grains

- use a sushi mat (or hands if easier) to roll the sushi tightly. 

- pop in the fridge to 'set' (roughly 10 min)

- use a very sharp and dry knife to cut into ~2cm slices

- serve with soy sauce, ginger, wasabi and if feeling punchy, a zingy Japanese beer like asahi!

Courgetti: Courgette Spaghetti

Courgette (known as zuchinni to our friends across the pond) is one of the most versatile, easy-to-prepare ingredients you can find. 

Using a julienne peeler (which you can easily buy online for about £3) you can use this wondrous vegetable to make courgetti: courgette spaghetti.

Simple to make, so deliciously crunchy, so refreshing on a hot day, so good for you. 

Gram for gram, ordinary white spaghetti contains ten times the calories and none of your daily vitamin C recommendation (courgettes have 30%).

(image sourced here)

Per 100g, you will get 17 calories, 0 of which come from fat. In fact, 95 of those 100 grams come from water, meaning that when you eat a courgette, you are not only upping your hydration, you are also getting full without taking on too much extra energy. Ideal for those watching the waistline or going low-carb.

The How-To:

- Quite literally, use the julienne peeler as you would a potato peeler - but instead of making slice it makes spaghetti strands. 

- Use the whole courgette - the dark green skin looks great and contains lots of fibre

- You can cook the courgetti by popping it into the sauce you're planning on putting over it, but I prefer to keep it raw and get the great crunch!

Other ways to use the ever-so-excellent courgette:

- Scooped out and grilled to use as taco shells

- Sliced to use instead of pasta sheets in lasagne

- Thickly sliced and flash-grilled in a sandwich press as an easy veg side in the workplace

- Courgette pizza bases

- Sliced and topped with cottage cheese and salmon for a healthy (and good looking!) starter at a dinner party.

Less-agne: Healthy Lasagne.

I love lasagne. Layers of cheese, pasta and meat - could there be anything better? Turns out, there could. Because the one thing I don't like about it is how uncomfortably full and sleepy it makes me. Not to mention that there is usually no veg involved at all (in my books - unacceptable).

So here's how we solve that one:

- Add red lentils in with the beef (or Quorn mince if using)
- Include a layer of carrots and kidney beans
- Add a layer of courgette next to OR instead of pasta sheets if going lower-carb
- Use cottage cheese instead of bechamel/cheese sauce

BOOM, there's at least 3 of our five-a-day and a big reduction in the calorie punch right there.

Here's one I prepared earlier...

What You'll Need:
Feeds ~ 8 people
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 500g mince/quorn (as preferred)
- 1 cup red lentils
- 1 veggie stock cube
- 2 carrots
- 2 courgette/zucchini
- 1 jar tomato-ey pasta sauce
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 large jar cottage cheese

- 200g cheese for melting on top- cheddar is usually good

The How-To:

For the meaty bit
1. Gently cook the onion and garlic over a low heat until see-through (~5 mins)
2. Meanwhile, bring a kettle to boil and cook the red lentils in with the veggie stock cube until mushy (about 20 mins). Don't worry about water:lentil ratio, just drain at the end. But somewhere around twice the water to lentils seems to work.
3. Add the mince into the onions and cook through (if quorn, cook until piping hot)
4. Add in the jar of tomato sauce (leaving a bit of sauce leftover) and stir through
5. When cooked, add in the lentils (drained)
6. Meaty bit ready.

For the rest
1. Wash the courgettes and chop the ends off. Slice length-ways to get 'sheets'
2. Give carrots a good old wash too, and cut into 'penny' shapes
3. Steam the carrots for 5-10 mins until chewable

Enough chat, let's build this thing

1. In your dish of choice, dollop the remainder of the tomato sauce at the bottom and spread out.
2. Layer pasta sheets over the top
3. Courgettes next 
(This order is important as the moisture from the tomato sauce and courgettes will soak into the pasta sheets and make them yummy and squishy)
4. Next, a layer of the meaty bit.
5. A layer of kidney beans (drained) and carrots
6. Cottage cheese
7. Another layer of pasta sheets and courgettes
8. Grate cheese all over
9. Cook in an oven at 180 degrees until cheese on top is golden (25 mins ish)

Voila! What you should have there is a lasagne that makes your insides happy (oh so much healthier than the usual), your eyes happy (so many colours!) and of course, your tastebuds.

Nom.