Buffalo Tempeh Sushi with Vegan Ranch Dip

The holidays are finally here, and with slightly cooler temperatures in LA (and, finally, some rain!) I'm turning to heartier fare to keep off the (very slight) late autumn chill. Gone are the cucumber rolls of summer. In their place, a much more substantial buffalo tempeh roll, along with a decadent vegan ranch dip. I usually add avocado to this roll but sadly was out this time around. I've included it in the recipe below, because let's face it - literally everything is better with avocado!

no avocado :( still delicious though!

Things have been quite busy here, and not just because of the holidays. I've started writing for SheKnows.com, the #1 women's lifestyle site on the web, according to comscore. It's super fun, and I get to write about everything from terrifying Pinterest food fails to 10 Oreo flavors that should never exist, and even got to create my own Love Actually drinking game! If you're interested, you can see all of my articles here. And as always, check out my Instagram for the most frequent updates on what's going down in my kitchen.

But enough about me! The recipe for these vegan buffalo tempeh sushi rolls with vegan ranch dip is below. This is my new favorite sushi roll (other than a tempura pumpkin roll I got recently...but that will have to wait for another post), and even my die-hard omnivore fiancee loved it.

Buffalo Tempeh Sushi Rolls

adapted from The Local Vegan 

Ingredients:
1 block tempeh, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce (make sure it's vegan) or Frank's Red Hot sauce
1/2 cup water
2 cups cooked sushi rice
1 Avocado, diced
2 T rice vinegar
2 sheets nori (seaweed)

1. In a medium saute pan, add tempeh, wing sauce and water. Simmer gently, covered, for 10 minutes, then uncover and simmer until sauce has thickened.

2. Add sushi rice to a large bowl. Sprinkle with rice vinegar and toss. Don't stir the rice or it will get gluey.

3. Lay out one sheet of nori, shiny side down, on a sushi mat or piece of saran wrap (though I highly recommend getting a sushi mat; they're super cheap online and make rolling much easier! No mat? Check out this technique.). Wet your hand and pat about 3/4 cup of rice onto the nori, leaving a half inch border on all sides.

2. Lay strips of the buffalo tempeh horizontally across the rice, starting about 1 inch from the edge of the rice closest to you.

3. Add a line of diced avocado next to the tempeh.

4. Roll the sushi. For instructions, click here.

5. Using a very sharp knife, cut sushi into rolls.

6. Add a few extra dashes of wing sauce on top of the tempeh in the cut rolls for a bit more color and flavor. Serve with pickled ginger and vegan ranch dip (below).

Vegan Ranch Dip

adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegan mayo (I recommend Just Mayo or Veganaise)
2-3 T non-dairy milk (I use organic soy milk)
1 T lemon juice or rice vinegar
4 chives, minced
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 grated garlic clove, or to taste (I like things super garlicky)
1/2 T finely minced fresh parsley
a pinch of salt

1. Mix together 2 tablespoons of non-dairy milk and the rest of the ingredients, other than the salt. Add more non-dairy milk if you want the dip to be of a thinner consistency.

2. Taste, adding salt if you think it needs it.