Welcome the Virtual Vegan Potluck! I’m happy to be joining so many other cooks today in serving up a bountiful vegan feast. Warm thanks to An Unrefined Vegan for planning our party. At the bottom of this post you will find links to take you forward and backward through the offerings, or you can start at the beginning and see all your choices right here.
If this is your first time visiting emmycooks, welcome! Pull up a chair, or do as I do and haul your computer into the kitchen and perch it up out of harm’s way as you cook along. You can browse the recipes via the sidebar links, or visit some of my recent favorites right here. If you like what you see, you can subscribe via RSS or follow emmycooks on FaceBook or Twitter.
If you’ve been here before, you won’t be surprised to find that this recipe is full of shortcuts to make it easy to cook a dish that might seem daunting at first. For starters, this is unabashedly a cheater’s sushi rice: you just cook a pot of short-grain brown rice and stir in rice vinegar, sugar and salt. It isn’t the rice that sushi masters spend years perfecting, but it tastes great and suits our needs nicely. Second, don’t worry for a moment about how to roll your sushi. You’re not going to impress anyone here–you’re just going to pile nori, rice, and assorted toppings on the table and let your dining companions impress you instead. J & I used to throw parties where we’d roll and slice a gajillion sushi rolls–so much work! And then we were guests in a home in Japan where everyone selected their own fillings and rolled their own sushi at the table. We’ve never looked back, and neither will you.
Vegetarian Brown Rice Sushi: First make your rice by cooking 2 c. short-grain brown rice in 3 c. water (bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the water is all absorbed, then turn off the heat and put a towel under the pot’s lid for 15 minutes to absorb some of the remaining moisture). Meanwhile, whisk 1/4 c. rice vinegar with 1/4 c. sugar and 2 tsp. salt. Spread the rice in a shallow pan and add the vinegar mixture, stirring for a few minutes to cool the rice a bit. Set the rice aside. Thinly slice your filling ingredients–feel free to go crazy here, but I used pan-fried tofu, red pepper, cucumber, avocado, green onions, and white and black sesame seeds. Serve your rice and fillings with a plate of toasted nori for rolling (I cut my sheets of nori in half to make each roll more manageable), and don’t forget the soy sauce, wasabi paste, and pickled ginger.
Bon appetit and bon voyage as you continue on through the Virtual Vegan Potluck!
Emmy Cooks 
I am sooooo making this. Great recipe idea, Emmy. Thank you! xx
And I’m making your “slop in a pot”! And I have a few recipes of my own I’m going to start calling by that name as well. :)
Great idea!
Even better than I imagined…Absolutely gorgeous. Thank you, Emmy!
This was a good round! I often fancy up the fillings (I do like the spicy tempeh sushi from Veganomican) but this simple combination was so good. And easy!
I love the concept here! Easy entertaining at it’s best.
It’s the only way to throw a party! And I love this because it’s easy to feed tons of people this way–throw in a pot of edamame and maybe some miso soup and the whole crowd goes wild. :)
This is the 2nd sushi dish on this potluck and now I know I must try it soon! You did a beautiful job!
I saw that great-looking quinoa sushi with raw kale! That’s one of the things I love about potlucks–I am always inspired to try new dishes!
Emmy – the list of our cooking similarities continues to grow – this used to be my go to dinner or lunch for years! I actually got sick of nori (if you can believe it) and now it’s time to get back into it. These rolls are reminding me how amazing they are if done with the right ingredients!! xox!
We also hadn’t had sushi for a while, but every time I make it I say I’m going to make it more! I also think these would be great in my daughter’s lunchbox–haven’t tried that yet but I think I will since she enthusiastically ate so many rolls!
Yummy Emmy! I love that everyone rolls their own. I want to reach into my computer screen and take on for my lunch! xoxo
The DIY aspect sure makes it easier on the cook. :) Wish we were potlucking in person!
Oh I would love to meet you!
What a fun idea for party food! Genius — your guest have to do all the work! I love that. I also love sushi.
Seriously–the easier it is, the more likely I am to have people over, and I like to have people over! :) I love sushi too, and it’s one of those things where the whole family can enjoy it because everyone picks and chooses what to put in.
Love Sushi and what a great idea that everyone makes their own, just the way they want it! Thank you for great inspiration – I will be making your sushi rolls real soon :-)
And thanks to YOUR inspiration I will be trying rolls wrapped in collard greens soon!
That’s a great idea getting people to roll their own, a nice bit of guest participation. I think that would make for a very enjoyable meal. Your sushi looks extremely appetising to me.
Glad to hear it! I think I’d pair a cup of green tea with this sushi, what do you think? :)
I’m right with you there, great idea!
Wonderful idea! I’d love to make my own thanks ;P Too bad this is virtual reality :(
On the other hand, maybe it’s good that this is virtual–otherwise I’d be stuffed by now! :)
This is just what I need- a cheater’s sushi! I’ve always been so intimidated by the process, but you make it so simple, and do delicious! Love it!
I know, the first recipe I ever had for sushi rice demanded that you fan the rice while stirring it in a wide wooden bowl with a special paddle. It actually recommended that you have a few assistants fan while you stirred, which might be how they do it in sushi restaurants–not here. This shortcut is easy peasy and the rice still comes out great.
This sounds like a fun idea, and another good idea for the party I have coming up in June. I especially like the idea of the guests doing their own assembly work – everyone has a good time and they get exactly the fillings they want!
Agreed, this is super fun party food! I always think that everyone has more fun when they get to participate. :)
Just making my way through the virtual vegan potluck and wanted to say hello :-)
Hello! Thank you for stopping by, hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am!
Happy Virtual Vegan Potluck! We are neighbors for the potluck. Looks so tasty! :-)
Hi neighbor! I always like to meet my neighbors–and you might have the distinction of being the farthest-away one I have. :)
I love the “roll your own” idea! The avocado in this looks particularly good. I’ve always been a little scared to attempt my own sushi but now I don’t have a reason not to try it out.
Right–because you only have to roll your own, not anyone else’s! And if are concerned that it won’t go well, just be prepared to act like you meant to make one of those cone-shaped rolls. :) And I agree that the avocado is key, yum.
Great recipe, would be so good for finger food at a party. Thank you for the link back to VBU. If you ever want to be a guest blogger let me know, I’d love to have you. Thanks! Lidia
Thanks for hosting! This was so much fun. :)
Oh wow, this looks amazing and I love all party foods where guests assemble their own creations! So much fun. :-)
I agree. My specialties: taco bar! assemble-your-own-spring rolls! sushi spread! DIY rules–and is much easier on the cook. :)
This looks so pretty! Great for an easy app to share at a party!
This would be super fun to take to a party–like this one! And, come to think of it, the various pieces would travel well. I just might do that!
I love how fresh, light yet filling this recipe is. Delectable.
Thanks!
I’ve always been scared to make sushi, especially in my pre-vegan days when I was worried about making raw fish at home. But now I’m inspired to try this!!
I agree that I am not at all excited by raw fish (at home or anywhere!). But this more of a salad, which I’m completely down with. :)
Ah, sushi! Great as ever. Love how you made them more healthy by using brown rice. We don’t have brown rice in Holland :( I have to improve my sushi rolling skills and will definitely keep your post close while trying.
XO!
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Sorry to hear that you don’t have brown rice–but you do get to eat chocolate sprinkles for breakfast, right? That made a big impression on me the one time I visited. :)
I hear positive memories about our chocolate sprinkles very often! I guess they kinda make up for the fact we don’t have brown rice. Almost. Sort of. Nah. Not really. XO!
Nice idea to use brown rice! I love making my own vegetarian/vegan sushi… (the main requirement is an avocado!).
One other vegan sushi filling idea: shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced, sautéed in sesame oil.
I agree that the avocado is essential. I actually looked for shiitakes (great idea to saute them in sesame oil, yum!) but they were exorbitantly priced so I decided to do without. :)
I really want to try making my own sushi, and this looks wonderful!
I love that you use brown rice! I love sushi but am putting off buying it a lot because of the white rice – will def try thank you :-)
What a great recipe! My hubby will LOVE this! :)
You make it look so easy! ;)
It IS easy, because you make everyone else do it! ;-)
Ha ha! Awesome! ;)
Yum, yum, yum and YUM!!
I’ve attempted to roll my own sushi before and was never very good at it! This looks so good though…I may have to try it again :)
This sounds awesome! I have been looking for a yummy vegan sushi recipe!! Can’t wait to attempt this one :) THANKS!!!
Enjoy! I love doing this with any combination of ingredients–let me know if you come up with something amazing! I also like the spicy tempeh vegan sushi filling in Veganomican if you have that book. :)
Sushi will be one of my next attempts! I have been researching ideas lately – stay tuned! I just did a vegan curry recipe last night that was AMAZING! I’ll hopefully have it up by the end of the week :)
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