We went to one of our favorite restaurants with family who were here visiting and we fell in love with one of their sushi options. I am not someone who eats sushi with fish… I can’t stomach the idea of uncooked fish. At all. But this sushi had baked salmon on the top of a California Roll. Why hadn’t I thought of that! It was so good.

I decided going out every day to order this was just not economically attractive (hello, inflation!) so I made my own version.

You Will Need:

* Toasted Nori Sheets

* Zucchini – One zucchini per two nori wraps

* Shredded Carrots (or shred yourself)

* Cauliflower Rice (raw)

* Avocado

* Micogreens and / or Sprouts (optional – we did both and both broccoli versions)

* Wild Sockeye Salmon (make sure this is pre-cooked by you or the store before plating over the sushi) – Alternative would be Smoked Salmon

* Your Dip of Choice. We got a Veggie Cilantro Dip to coat the rolls with (You can make your own using a vegan mayo or regular mayo and cilantro, turmeric or dried basil for example)

* Vegan (or regular) Mayo

* Coconut Aminos (instead of soy sauce)

* Dried Ginger

* Chopsticks (optional) and Plastic Wrap

First thing you’ll want to do is chop up your zucchini into matchsticks or at least as thin and short and uniform as you can. Set half the zucchini per nori sheet aside. Cut your avocado into strips, using a quarter per nori wrap. Then lay out your nori sheets – I do two at a time. Coat them with whatever dip you chose (you can see the brand of cilantro dip we prefer and you may find it at your local Sprouts, Whole Foods, Fresh Market or Kroger) – layer the dip on the sheets first.

Next, lay your zucchini sticks down, making sure you space them across the nori as well as you can (doesn’t need to be perfect), remembering to have a solid amount at each end for the end pieces that you’ll be cutting.

Next, place your carrots (having cut them as thinly as you can if you didn’t already get them shredded). Make sure you place them the same way you did the zucchini, having a decent amount as well on each end.

The next layer will be your cauliflower rice. I always like to use the raw rice you don’t need to worry about it having defrosted and dried completely first. Whatever you don’t use can be added to soups or frozen and kept in the freezer.

Next is the avocado. One quarter per nori roll. Again, making sure you don’t leave out the ends of the wrap when filling.

Finally, the sprouts if you chose to get some. Can also use microgreens of any kind.

Start to roll each wrap, as tightly as you can and then leave on its closed side while you get some plastic wrap.

Close each in plastic wrap, tucking in the ends. Does not need to be perfect!

Place the wraps in the fridge away from other food that may smoosh them accidentally.

Leave them in the fridge to cool for at least a half hour.

Before serving, create your dipping sauce. I chose not to go with just soy sauce – though you can and it would be delicious! Thats how they serve it at the restaurant. I wanted to create just a bit more flavor and I’m not a big fan of MSG…

In a bowl (this measurement is for one sheet; adjust accordingly) plop two tablespoons of vegan or regular mayo, one tablespoon of coconut aminos and two teaspoons of ginger. Whisk and taste. See if per your liking, you want to add more of anything. The coconut aminos add the salt, the mayo is fantastic flavor with the salmon you’ll be adding and the ginger is a familiar taste with sushi. Any leftover sauce can be used with salmon, chicken, tuna, etc.

Whisk – I did not and you’ll see the bits of vegan mayo floating in the picture. That didn’t bother me and I was in a hurry (hence: Easy Quick Sushi) I liked it that way. You decide. I just used a fork quickly didn’t emulsify.

The plate above shows how many pieces you can get out of one nori wrap. You will first cut down the middle. Then cut each middle down the middle and so on, until you have eight pieces of sushi per wrap, all uniform in size. Take your pre-cooked salmon (or smoked salmon) and place a bit over each piece of sushi and then top with some more microgreens or sprouts.

We used both sprouts inside the rolls and microgreens to top the rolls. This was SO GOOD. I say maybe even better than the restaurant! We’ll still go of course… But how nice it is to know I can make this quickly at home and have a glass of riesling with my husband… And save money.

They say boredom is the mother of invention.

I say inflation is.

Plates are from Williams Sonoma, Crystal Dish is Waterford