Super Simple Sushi Salad

Close-up of texture. 

The finished product, serves 2

You can see from the first picture that this salad has a lot of color, a lot of texture, and a lot of appeal--and it's all very inexpensive and very quick to cook. 

Here's what you need: 

Sushi rice, enough to feed however many people your dinner feeds.  I only have myself and my husband, so I generally make 1.5 cups of rice in 3 cups of water.  It only takes about 10 minutes to cook, and I fluff it with a little vinegar (whatever kind I have on hand) before spreading it on the plate. 

Canned chicken, drained.  You could also use salmon or tuna, I suppose, for a more fishy taste.  Sprinkle on top of the rice.

Green onion or shallots--snip with kitchen scissors and sprinkle on top.

Ginger--I use sliced sushi ginger, and just sprinkle some on top. 

Furikake/Furigake or seaweed--sprinkle it on top.  If you're using seaweed, use kitchen scissors to cut it into tiny pieces and sprinkle it on top. Furikake is available at Asian food stores and is a great tasty topping for any rice dish. 

Other things you might try:  Sliced cucumber, sliced avocado, sliced radishes, wasabi (only for the adventurous!), grated carrot, broiled fish, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds. 

Options

I have documented evidence of two recipes, and I'm letting the fan(s?) decide which will be the topic of my next post.  Do you want to read about:

How to make chicken sushi salad (no raw meat involved!)

Or

How to make a tasty homemade salsa? 

Poor neglected blog

I saw a blog post that made me smile--thought I'd repost and add my own story here:

http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2011/07/06/how-one-woman-became-one-of-them-guest-post/

I know how I became "one of them."  I wasn't born this way, it didn't come naturally to me, but I love every minute of it now.  I'm about to weird out half the members of my small group tonight at the cookout, but I'm looking forward to it. 

In college, I went shopping with my brand-spanking-new first boyfriend ever (I have since married him) and his roommate.  I about got mad.  They were, and still are, avid foodies.  I was a southern girl raised on biscuits and gravy and pork bacon.  Though my man had talked with me before about loving home-made and fresh foods, I didn't understand the extent that food influenced his life until we reached the fated moment when they decided to step up to...the hot dog section of Walmart. 

My idea of college males and their dining habits was that they'd pick whatever was free or cheap, then cook it up and eat it.  I had no idea that these two extremists would spend nearly 20 minutes reading the labels and making fun of the ingredients in these poor hot dogs.  In fact, I was starting to get embarrassed at the stares from other people as this outing turned into an event.  Finally, they settled for some sort of gourmet all-natural wieners, and we paid for the food and left. 

Then came the learning, the working with fresh broccoli for the first time, the discovery of how to make stir fry, reading about nutrition and how best to give your body what it needs.  I tasted new things I'd never tried, and learned how to eat healthy on a budget (which is tough to do). 

I remember conversations with my mom, who was concerned that this line of behavior would end in us making poor health choices for her potential grandchildren.  What if they got sick?  Would we refuse to vaccinate them and never take them to the doctor?  If you don't drink milk, you won't get enough calcium and your kids won't have strong bones.  There's no evidence that organic is any different than normal food. 

And here I am.  I made homemade hamburger and hot dog buns today for our cookout, featuring unbleached wheat flours (2 varieties, mixed), honey instead of sugar, sea salt, organic milk, and real unsalted butter. 

You know what?  Even if there is no more nutrition in my hot dog buns than in the store bought ones, at least I'm missing out on a few preservatives.  And even if I'm not missing out on preservatives MY HOT DOG BUNS TASTE BETTER. 

What southern girl could argue with that?  (oh, and if you're in my small group, we're getting turkey burgers and some more of those gourmet hot dogs for tonight)