Raw Veggie Sushi Rolls | Parnsip Rice
Raw vegan sushi rolls recipe with parsnip rice, red, yellow & green capsicum, avocado, herbs, sprouts, beetroot, radish, and purple cabbage rolls in fresh nori sheets, with a fantastic mayo sauce. They are light, healthy and easy to make!
If you’ve ever wanted to make raw vegan sushi rolls, then this recipe is for you!
Since I’ve never been a fan of the white/brown rice typically used in sushi rolls, making them raw, without any grain, was right up my alley! I much prefer nourishing myself with colourful veggies and these raw sushi rolls are simply amazing! I love how flavoursome and light they are too :)
These vegan sushi rolls are:
gluten-free
grain-free
sugar-free
raw (no cooking needed here!)
quick & easy
Some health benefits of nori seaweed
Nori seaweed is the most common edible seaweed produced worldwide. An eye-catching deep purple sushi rolls you must have seen in any Japanese restaurants is actually the red nori algae that grows proficiently in the intertidal sea zones in many temperate areas around the world.
Nori nutrients include calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, zinc and then some! Nori can actually contain up to 10 times more calcium than milk! Beyond that, nori is packed full of vitamins too. It offers vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K, as well as niacin, folic acid and taurine.
It is among the most nutritious seaweeds with easily-digestible and bio-available protein content ranging from 10-15 percent.
Nori and other red algae carry ample amounts of vitamin-A. 100 g of fresh, raw nori contains astoundingly 5,202 IU or 1734 % of daily recommended levels of vitamin A. Further, vitamin-A is required for maintaining healthy mucosa and skin and is essential for night vision.
100 g of fresh nori seaweed has 39 mg or 65% of daily recommended levels of vitamin-C. Vitamin-C is a powerful antioxidant, which helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals.
It is also an important vegetable source of EPA (20:5 n-3, eicosapantonoic acid), a omega-3 fatty acid.
The characteristic flavour of nori seaweed is attributed to the large amounts of three amino acids: alanine, glutamic acid and glycine.
Note- you'll want to make sure the nori sheets you get are RAW (untoasted) to ensure you are benefiting from all of the seaweeds nutritional content! I get mine from the health food store, and there are also a plethora of places you can order raw nori sheets from online as well.
This recipe will make 4 sushi whole rolls and 24 sushi bites when each roll is cut into 6 individual bite sized pieces :)
Ingredients you will need
For the parsnip rice
◦ 3 parsnips
◦ 1tsp of sea salt
◦ 1tsp of garlic and/or onion powder
For the veggie fillings
◦ 4 raw nori seaweed sheets
◦ 1/2 a large red capsicum
◦ 1/2 a large yellow capsicum
◦ 1/2 a large green capsicum capsicum
◦ 1 avocado
◦ 1/4 cup purple cabbage
◦ 1 cup coriander
◦ 1 small beetroot
◦ 3 large romaine lettuce leaves
◦ 1/4 cup sunflower sprouts
◦ splash of coconut aminos
For the cashew mayo dipping sauce
◦ 8-10 raw & soaked cashews
◦ juice of 1 lemon
◦ 1tsp salt
◦ 1tsp garlic & onion powder
◦.crack of pepper
◦1/2 tsp mustard powder
Method
Parsnip rice
Top, tail, peel and large dice the parsnip.
Place the parsnip, along with the other ingredients, in a food processor and pulse until the parsnip breaks down to be ‘rice-like’.
Assembly
Place the nori sheet on a bamboo rolling mat, with the edge of both (the ones that are closest to you) lined up evenly.
Flatten and evenly press out a scoop of the parsnip rice mixture across the nori sheet with your hands or a spoon, covering 3/5 of the sheet
Place a little of each ingredient along the middle of the rice, from left to right, being sure not to overfill it, which will make the whole thing more difficult to roll. I started by placing a long piece of lettuce down first, followed by the other veggies.
Pick up the edge of the nori and mat that is closest to you – the ones that you lined up evenly – and start to roll the nori forwards. Once you have everything contained, you can pull it all tight, so everything holds together when you cut it.
Place each roll on a plate in the refrigerator for 5-10mins to firm up and 'set', this will make it much easier to cut up and give a 'cleaner' chop.
Using a sharp knife, cut each roll into 6 individual pieces (cut 1 roll in half, and each half into thirds)
Cashew mayo
Blend cashew mayo ingredients together in a blender or small food processor until creamy and smooth, adding more water or lemon juice if needed to thin out the mixture as you blend.
Serving suggestions
These raw sushi rolls would pair or serve well with any of these serving ideas:
Drizzle the cashew mayo and coconut amino sauce on top of your sushi roll platter, with sprinkled black sesame seeds upon the sauces to decorate and for extra flavour.
Serve with a small bowl of Rainbow Summer Salad
Decorate with additional sunflower sprouts by placing them in the 'cut off' ends of each sushi roll
Serve with eco-friendly & reusable Kappi Life wooden cutlery utensils or chopsticks like I did!
