No Rice Sushi with Sweet Potato and Jicama

Thanks to the colorful sweet potato, I give you the “no rice sushi”- it’s grain-free, vegan, gluten-free, but totally delicious! Crunchy, slightly sweet jicama contrasts with subtle enoki mushrooms, plus nutty peanuts and scallions leads to a pleasant mouthful. Delicate and complex flavors that will work with almost any diet, this vegan sushi is a great option to please a crowd!

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My Sister, My Un-Authentic Sushi Inspiration

I have two sisters, an older and a younger. My older sister doesn’t really cook much at all, but she is my inspiration for all things sushi related. In high school, she started a fundraiser where she sold sushi rolls as a lunch option. She started with fairly classic options like avocado and cucumber, and moved on to more creative inventions. One of my favorites was the PB&J roll (surprisingly delicious!), and maybe one of the most interesting was the “left-over Halloween candy roll” filled with snickers, Twix, gummy candies, and whatever else we had from trick or treating. Some people liked it, though I have to say the PB&J still won for me.

Since that point, my family has often done sushi for dinner. We tend to stick to vegetables as fillings, but the vegetables we use are varied. My sister now lives in Mexico, where she goes on and on about how great Mexican sushi is. It’s not the simple and pure flavors perfected in Japan, it’s bursting with different flavors, textures, and  anything but subtle. My sister taught me how to roll sushi, and while this might not be a popular opinion, she taught me that there’s no wrong way to make it.

The Trouble with (Some) Vegan Sushi

It took me a long time to realize that I like sushi. Up until probably high school, with the peanut butter and jelly sushi. Why? Because up until then my entire sushi experience was made up of two things- avocado rolls, and carrot and cucumber rolls. I almost fell asleep typing that sentence, that’s how uninspiring I find the two most commonly available vegetarian sushi offerings. Vegetarians, just like omnivores, want variety, even if it means making sushi a little less traditional. It’s possible that I just didn’t go out to get sushi enough, but I remember in college finding a place that had a vegetarian dragon roll- tempura vegetables with different sauces on top- and being really excited about sushi for one of the first times ever (after college I went to Beyond Sushi, which is truly a great experience for vegans).

So if you’re a lifelong vegetarian, and don’t get the sushi craze, don’t give up- just get creative! Go for diverse and interesting flavors, bright and vibrant colors, and avoid predictable and dull options at all costs.

Looking for Gluten Free Recipes? Try one of these!

• Hibiscus Flower and White Bean Vegan Tostadas
• Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts with Vegan Sriracha Mayo
• Vegan Spinach and Chickpea Curry
• Tempeh and Pomelo Salad with Avocado
• Warming Vegan Stew with Squash and Cardamom
• Avocado, Persimmon and Beet Tartare
• Thai Rice Noodle Salad with Vegan Chick’n

Making No Rice Vegan Sushi

So I made my grain free sushi (not really as an attempt to make it paleo, but just for amusement), by treating the sweet potato as the rice. By cooking it (I just used a microwave) and mashing it, you can use your fingers to push a thin layer on a sheet of nori. You want it to cover between 2/3-3/4 of the roll. From there you distribute your toppings evenly down the length of the roll, so that every piece will have some of every ingredients. Some people use a special mat to roll their sushi, but it’s not necessary- just roll it up, and seal by wetting the end of the nori with a little water.

No Rice Sushi with Sweet Potato and Jicama (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Paleo)

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