Friday, April 13, 2012

Vegetarian Finger Food Friday

Finger Food Fridays is something our entire family is really enjoying. Our usual take on it involves baked chicken wings, baked sweet potato and regular potato wedges, vegetable sticks and homemade dip. Tonight's version was all-veggie, and Asian inspired. And everyone loved it just as much. I think I'll be spending some time coming up with more finger food options, 'cause eating this way is fun!

Crispy tofu nuggets (from Whitewater Cooks at Home—note, the linked recipe is an adaptation of the original; I used cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder. Either will work.), dipped in sweet chili mayonnaise (1/4 cup mayonnaise and 1 T. Thai sweet chili sauce)
Whole grain sushi rice balls (inspired by Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook)
Steamed and salted edamame
Carrot, celery and cucumber sticks

Pretty simple all around, and great flavours. I was particularly excited at finding a recipe for brown sushi rice. The original recipe was "Sushi Rice with Daikon and Sesame Seeds," but I only made the rice part, which goes as follows:

1 c. short grain brown rice
Salt
3 T. rice vinegar
1 T. sugar
1 T. grated ginger

Place water in a medium saucepan, cover with 1 inch of water and salt liberally. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, so it bubbles gently. Cover and cook until water is absorbed (about a half hour or more). If water is absorbed, test rice to confirm that it is cooked. If it isn't yet soft, add some more water.

In a separate pan, while rice is cooking, combine vinegar, sugar, ginger and another teaspoon of salt. Heat to a boil, or until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and let cool.

When the rice is done, place in a large bowl. Toss rice with a rubber spatula to cool the rice and sprinkle with the vinegar mixture. (I confess, I didn't do this for long, but the traditional method takes this a little more seriously). Once the rice is cool, form into 1 1/2 inch balls, and serve with soy sauce for dipping.

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