It’s summertime. It’s hot. You have NO desire to cook. OK, maybe that’s me right now? While I love cooking, sometimes I just want something super easy and light to eat. But….sometimes I’m also sick of eating salad! You too? How about a super simple, light summer lunch? Ever tried a sushi roll up? This is a vegan hand roll, packed with what ever fresh veggies you have on hand (hehe, get it?!). I had some leftover brown rice, making this super easy to throw together. I also made a really fast soy sauce dip to go along. Nothing here took long to make, and all of the veggies I used were raw. These rolls also make a great snack or appetizer. I always keep freshly sliced veggies on hand for salads, so throwing this together is a breeze! Don’t tell me you don’t have time to make this!
Mess around with the ingredients and use whatever ever you have. The ones I used in this roll were: peppers, carrots, cucumber, avocado, mushrooms, fresh sprouts, and asparagus (because when I photographed these I still had some in the garden). To swap out the asparagus, use fresh snap beans, for a later summer ingredient. 
Instead of a light soy sauce dip, you could make a peanut dip, like I used for my summer rolls, as a heartier dip (excuse the old blog name in the pic). I liked to keep this simple and light so that it cold all come together in 5 minutes.
Why raw? While the brown rice isn’t raw, the remaining ingredients in this wrap are. Raw foods are great additions to your diet. Plants contain many powerful enzymes and antioxidants that are damaged and sometimes destroyed by the heating process. Raw foods can help your body re-establish healthy bacterial levels in your gut. I grow my own sprouts. The ones shown here are mung beans. Sprouts are an awesome source of raw, plant-based protein. Growing your own is soooo much less expensive and they taste so much better than store bought. Transport time decreases the nutritional benefit of the sprouts, and I find they go bad much faster than when I grow my own. To learn how to grow your own, here’s my post on sprouting. Eating seaweed is a great way to get plant-based calcium & iron, and is a great source of Vitamin A.
Ingredients:
- Veggies of your choice, julienned (sliced very thin), about 2-3 pieces of each veggie-choices: cucumber, peppers, sprouts, mushrooms, carrots, thin green beans/asparagus or what ever you have on hand
- Avocado (2 thin slices per roll)
- Brown rice
- Several sheets of nori seaweed (sold in packages at most supermarkets and all Asian food stores)
Soy Sauce Dip Per Person:
- 1 tbsp low-sodium, gluten free tamari/soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp of wasabi powder (depending on how spicy you like it)
- 1/4 tsp of ground ginger
- Take nori sheet and thinly press some brown rice on 3/4 of the sheet
- Layer veggies of choice on top of rice on a diagonal
- Place a small amount of rice on the corner where you will roll towards (this helps the seaweed to stick to itself)
- Lift up one corner of nori where you have the rice, and roll towards the center of the sushi paper. As you do this, the rectangle will roll into a cone-shape. Use a little bit of rice to pinch the end together to form the cone-shape
- Dip in sauce and enjoy!
Nutritional Benefits:
- Very low in calories, nutrient dense
- High in fiber; great for digestive health, lowering blood pressure, regulating blood sugar, and increasing satiety
- High in Antioxidants; great for boosting the body’s immunity
- Gluten free, plant-based-decreases inflammation in the body
- Raw ingredients-foods maintain their nutritional content, preserving vitamins minerals, and phytonutrients of the plants you’re eating
- Veggies of your choice, julienned (sliced very thin), about 2-3 pieces of each veggie, choices: cucumber, peppers, sprouts, mushrooms, carrots, thin green beans/asparagus or what ever you have on handAvocado (2 thin slices per roll)
- Brown rice
- Several sheets of nori seaweed (sold in packages at most supermarkets and all Asian food stores)
- 1 tbsp low-sodium, gluten free tamari/soy sauce
- ½ tsp of wasabi powder (depending on how spicy you like it)
- ¼ tsp of ground ginger
- Take nori sheet and thinly press some brown rice on ¾ of the sheet
- Layer veggies of choice on top of rice on a diagonal
- Place a small amount of rice on the corner where you will roll towards (this helps the seaweed to stick to itself)
- Lift up one corner of nori where you have the rice, and roll towards the center of the sushi paper. As you do this, the rectangle will roll into a cone-shape. Use a little bit of rice to pinch the end together to form the cone-shape
- Dip in sauce and enjoy!
This recipe is calling my name right now!! It’s so hot and muggy here in CT, and you’re right – I have NO desire to cook anything. I love sushi, and making hand rolls are so much easier than actual rolls! 🙂
Easiest thing ever! Great fast dinner or lunch! My daughter’s new fav!
I don’t understand #4 how to roll up?
Take a top corner where you have the rice, and roll towards the center of the sushi paper. As you do this, the rectangle will roll into a cone-shape. Use a pinch of rice to pinch the end together to form the cone-shape. Hope this helps Susan!