The next debate was a "glue" to hold the cauliflower together. Canned Navy Beans and Great Northerns worked great for the "glue" to make cauliflower sticky. In theory, navy beans are somewhat softer for blending, but when I had to shift to Great Northerns, I really didn't see any difference. Butter Beans should be an equal swap.
My first attempt, I was really focused on the veg, as I always am. Trying to make a Rainbow Roll with a little crab or lox style salmon. One of the critiques of the first round from an uber sushi lover was that I had too many flavors. My personal critique was the flavor and moisture of the cauli/bean substitute for rice. The recipe below has adjusted for some of that problem.
And so did this proportion of cooked shrimp, cauliflower and avocado. Each roll = 3 large cooked shrimp, 1/8 cuke, 1/4 avocado. 1 cup cauli-sushi-rice.
I took 3 variations of this to a birthday party and forced people to give feedback. The group favorite and runner up variations are listed below.
Cauliflower Rice.
1 onion finely minced or shredded.
1 head cauliflower shredded in a food processor or box grater
In a large microwave safe glass container, cook onion for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 the cauliflower and stir to combine. Top with the other half and cook in the microwave on high for 4 minutes. Stir and cook and additional 4 minutes. ( I have done this on the stove top with a skillet, but you may need to add additional water to steam, and drain after).
Bean Glue
Drain and rinse 1 can (16 oz) of white beans : Navy, Great Northern, Butter Beans.
Puree with 3-4 Tbsp of Sushi vinegar:
4 Tbsp rice vinegar, 3-4 packets of Splenda, 1.5 tsp soy sauce
The formula for rice substitute is 1 cup cooked cauliflower rice to 1/4 cup of bean puree glue.
The winning combination added 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp wasabi powder for each cup of cauliflower.
About a third of the tasters preferred my wild card combination which used my home made hummus in place of the white bean / sushi vinegar blend. I was only able to add 1 tsp of sushi vinegar to the mix without it being too wet.
My thought was that being able to buy frozen cauliflower rice and pre-made hummus could make this a more likely recipe for people to try.
I cooked frozen shrimp in crab boil, but pre-cooked frozen shrimp could also speed this recipe up.
Unlike rice, the cauliflower/bean blend stores well and can be used for days to make a quick, on demand sushi roll with all kinds of leftovers.
Eat well. Be happy.
