Quinoa Sushi Salad

Throwback Thursday this week is one of my all-time favorites: QUINOA SUSHI SALAD! This salad combines all of my favorite sushi flavors (mainly, WASABI!) with a healthy, veggie-ful, vegetarian salad. I still make this regularly, and since it makes A TON of salad I eat it all week for lunch. I swear the flavors get better as it sits — and it's different enough from what I usually eat that it makes for a fun switcharoo!

I've updated the pictures, but the rest of the text of this post is from the original, way back in the day! Enjoy!

I'm breaking my sugar streak today for you to bring you this sushi salad — consider this my Valentine's present to you! Seriously though, this recipe is a fabulous present: it blew my mind the first time I made it.

I LOVE sushi. Love. I can hear my mom saying "you love people, not food!" but seriously, if I could eat one food for the rest of my life, it'd most likely be sushi. And brie. Not together (ew? or... new food to try? ew.).

Seeing as we have a sushi date tonight for Valentine's Day, I thought this was appropriate to share. This salad makes it so easy to have all of your favorite flavors of sushi at home, but without having to go through the trouble of actually doing the rolls. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE rolled sushi, and am looking forward to rolling some at this year's sushi party this weekend! Most of the time though, I don't want to go through the effort: so I make this salad!

I'm big on quinoa (here, here, and here), so I always make this with quinoa instead of rice. Either would work just fine!

Quinoa Sushi Salad

• Author: adapted from Epicurious, originally seen on Two Peas and Their Pod
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 4-6 1x

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 ½ cups rinsed uncooked quinoa
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (or toasted sesame oil)
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 1 large seedless cucumber, chopped
• 1 ½ cups shelled edamame
• 4 sheets nori, cut into thin strips
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• For the dressing:
• 2 tsp wasabi powder
• 1 Tbsp hot water
• 2 Tbsp cold water
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp ginger, very finely grated
• Optional additions:
• Sashimi grade ahi
• Sliced mango
• Bean sprouts

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Instructions

1. Cook the quinoa as directed. Meanwhile, combine the rice vinegar and sugar in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat until just boiling. Remove and stir until the sugar is fully disolved, reheating if necessary.
2. When the quinoa is done, drain and transfer to a large bowl and toss with the sugar-vinegar. Let the entire mixture cool as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
3. When the quinoa is cool, stir in the salt, sesame seeds, and olive oil, followed by the green onions, carrots, cucumber, edamame, and nori. Mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the wasabi powder with the hot water and stir to combine, then add the cold water, soy sauce, and ginger. Mix together, then pour over the salad and mix thoroughly.
5. Serve the salad topped with avocado, and additional ingredients (sashimi, mango, etc.) as desired.

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