Book of Yum

As you may know, the DH and I are expecting a “Baby Yum” in mid July and so have been doing all sorts of things to prepare for her, including attending childbirth classes. I had always imagined that these classes would be cuddly events involving yoga mats and back massages and spouses, so I was a little disappointed with the rather clinical, hospital-themed lectures we ended up attending. I also found myself more than a little hungry at the first one as it took place directly after the DH got home from work during our typical dinner hour. We sped over to a nearby PF Chang’s for a late dinner, but after that I wanted to bring our own dinner. (This was encouraged by the class leader/nurse.) The next class, I brought tasty spring rolls. The week after, though, I was inspired to make another international portable snack, Onigiri, or Japanese rice balls.

First I prepped the ingredients and set them out on a plate, and then I made a bunch of different types in small triangular molds:
Vegetarian Sesame Spinach Onigiri (a Book of Yum favorite)
Vegetarian fresh basil and sweet egg onigiri (a Japanese omelette made with 1 small beaten egg, 2 tsp. sugar and salt fried and then minced) with both ingredients mixed into the rice.
Cream cheese, avocado, and cucumber onigiri
and
Peanut Sauce Onigiri (recipe below)

The latter recipe was inspired by an earlier recipe I’d never gotten around to blog, where I used very yummy gluten-free miso mayo with avocado and pine nuts for a fusion nigiri. This time I didn’t have any on hand but I did have some of the new gluten-free San-J peanut sauce in my pantry, so I used that. It was delicious and ended up being one of my favorite rolls, next to the sesame spinach onigiri. The rolls traveled beautifully and made a very tasty and hearty dinner during our class. They would be perfect for a picnic lunch or a Fourth of July celebration as well! If you haven’t tried making vegetarian onigiri, I highly recommend it as a portable and delicious, easily gluten-free meal.

Product Review of San-J Gluten-Free Peanut Sauce
Thin Japanese egg omelette recipe for an alternative to a nori wrap
Festive Coconut Sticky-Rice Onigiri Recipe

Fusion Avocado Basil Vegetarian Onigiri Recipe Main Course  Rice  Japanese

Ingredients 2 rice cooker scoops of White Sushi Rice Nori Seaweed sheets, either square cut in half or onigiri size 1/2 fresh avocado, chopped in large, thick chunks Miso Mayo or your favorite GF mayonnaise with a touch of salt or GF soy sauce added (if soy is ok for you) Handful of Pine Nuts, toasted or not to taste Julienned fresh basil OR fresh shiso leaf (I prefer basil) kosher salt flakes black sesame seeds Directions Rinse your (uncooked) sushi rice until the water runs clean with no cloudiness. Drain and cook your sushi rice in your rice cooker according to machine’s directions OR, if you don’t have a rice cooker, prepare on the stove according to rice directions. When cooked, fluff rice and let cool slightly. Prepare your ingredients and set up an onigiri station with a rice bowl, saran wrap and ingredients. Line rice bowl with saran wrap. Sprinkle saran wrap with kosher salt flakes. Place layer of sushi rice in the bowl on top of the saran wrap, press a few pine nuts into the center of the bowl and rice, top with a little fresh basil and then add your piece of avocado to the center on top of basil and pine nuts. top with a little miso mayo, a little more julienned fresh basil and then cover with a layer of rice. Sprinkle rice on top with kosher salt. Wrap saran around the whole rice ball and remove from bowl. Compress with hands until you have a nice, tight triangle. Gently remove from saran wrap and wrap in nori seaweed so nori is open towards the top of the triangle. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds if desired. Make more until you run out of rice. Enjoy this easy lunchbox treat. :) Notes *Will need to be refrigerated, especially if you use an egg based mayonnaise.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Contents of my brain, do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Recipe ID:  1304 Added:  October 19, 2008 Last Modified:  July 2, 2009

Gluten Free Vegan Peanut Avocado Onigiri Recipe Main Course  Rice  Japanese

Ingredients San-J peanut sauce or homemade peanut sauce 1/2 cubed avocado 1/4 sliced, cubed peeled cucumber pine nuts Julienned fresh basil OR fresh shiso leaf (I prefer basil) black sesame seeds Directions Rinse your (uncooked) sushi rice until the water runs clean with no cloudiness. Drain and cook your sushi rice in your rice cooker according to machine’s directions OR, if you don’t have a rice cooker, prepare on the stove according to rice directions. When cooked, fluff rice and let cool slightly. Prepare your ingredients and set up an onigiri station with a small triangular onigiri mold, saran wrap and ingredients. Line onigiri mold with a small piece of saran wrap. Place layer of sushi rice in the mold on top of the saran wrap and drizzle a small amount of peanut sauce on the rice and add avocado, cucumber, and a few pine nuts in the center of the rice mold. Top with a little fresh basil or shiso. Then cover with a layer of rice and press into a nice triangular onigiri. Wrap saran around the whole rice ball and remove from mold. Compress with hands and gently remove from saran wrap and sprinkle with black sesame seeds. Notes San-J peanut sauce is very liquid, so it will seep into the top of the onigiri. Homemade peanut sauce can be thicker so will not necessarily leak.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Contents of my brain, completely original recipe. Please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1431 Added:  July 2, 2009 Last Modified:  July 2, 2009

This weekend I hosted our local Celiac Bay Area potluck at a local Sunnyvale, California park just in time for a heat wave. Whoops! Luckily our park was well shaded and somehow managed to have a slight breeze that kept us and the delicious feast everyone had brought relatively cool. I always like to make spring rolls for picnics, but this time I was inspired by a recent sighting of Pineapple spring rolls at Whole Foods to make a fruit spring roll as well as a savory mint roll. The DH has always been a fan of apple in spring rolls, and my pineapple experiment was met with enthusiasm. He liked the peanut sauce so much he suggested putting a layer in the roll itself- which I did later in rolls I made for us at home. (I try to keep allergens separate for our group members with multiple allergies). For anyone that was allergic to nuts, I made a homemade sweet chili sauce.
Yes, premade ones exist, but I always get nervous when reading Trader Joe’s allergen statement about wheat on the lines, especially when cooking for other Celiacs. Besides, homemade sweet chili sauce is just so satisfying! I’ve been making variations of the sweet chili recipe from Real Vegetarian Thai cookbook for years- it is a classic! (And for under $6 the book is a real steal with many recipes that can easily be adapted to be gluten-free.) Despite the fact that I had a friend and her significant other over to help with spring roll assembly and we made a veritable mountain of them, I ended up with very few leftovers, alas. Luckily I had lots of filling ingredients left over that I was able to use in spring rolls that became our dinner the next day. Fruit rolls are natural alternatives to the usual savory tofu rolls i make- but you can also make an absolutely delicious savory roll without any soy by leaving out the tofu and including a mint leaf, rice noodles, carrot, jicama, and cucumber. Mmm, tasty and gluten-free picnic fare.

Pineapple Fruit Spring Roll Recipe Main Course  Vegetables  Thai

Ingredients Rice spring roll wrapper (dried, must be soaked in warm water to soften) Filling: thick sticks of fresh pineapple medium thick sticks of peeled cucumber thin slices of peeled apple thin sticks of carrot fresh lettuce leaves Directions soak dried rice wrapper in warm water until it softens and then lay on a flat cutting board. Layer pineapple, apple, and carrot in a small pile in the center of the wrapper. Cover loosely with a small piece of lettuce and fold the wrapper around the filling as if you were making a burrito. Serve with a sweet peanut sauce or other sauce that you like…

Rating:  7 Original Source:  Contents of my brain, please do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Recipe ID:  1428 Added:  June 29, 2009 Last Modified:  June 30, 2009

Soy free peanut sauce Sauces & Condiments  Thai

Ingredients 1 sliced medium onion 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 teaspoon sugar 3/4 cup NATURAL peanut butter or 1 cup dry roasted salted peanuts 1 tbsp. fresh peeled ginger, grated 1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste) 2 tablespoons lime juice Water (to taste, start with 1/2 cup and add more as needed) Directions Saute onion in oil til tender. Cool. Place in blender, add everything else, and blend carefully. Slowly and carefully add enough water to form a creamy paste. If you will be keeping sauce in refrigerator until serving, you may need to add more water later for the same texture as it thickens over time.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Modification of previous Book of Yum Recipe. Please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1429 Added:  June 29, 2009 Last Modified:  June 29, 2009

Sweet Chili Garlic Sauce Sauces & Condiments  Vegetables  Thai

Ingredients 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup brown rice or other favorite vinegar 2 tbsp. minced garlic 1 tsp. salt 1 tbsp. chili garlic sauce (or less, to taste) Directions Combine ingredients through the salt in a saucepan and bring to boil, whisking occasionally. When sugar has dissolved, turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce forms a syrup after 20 minutes or so. Whisk in chili garlic sauce, let cool and serve.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Adaption of Real Vegetarian Thai cookbook, please do not replicate without permission. Recipe ID:  1430 Added:  June 29, 2009 Last Modified:  June 29, 2009