I'm a huge sushi fan - count yourself lucky enough if you live in a city where you can get good quality vegetarian sushi and not just avocado rolls all the time (not knocking avocado rolls, it's just nice to have some variety). I'm particularly fond of that little Japanese salad, spinach goma-ae. As I got more adept at making my own sushi, I decided to try my hand at this delicious dish and my results were pretty satisfying. A lot of places use peanut butter as well, so you can always try to replace the tahini with pb if that's more your thing. This is a great recipe for getting your daily calcium intake - a cup of boiled spinach provides you with 25% of your daily value, and a quarter cup of tahini has about 35% - or so WHFoods tells me!
Spinach Goma-ae
1 bunch spinach (or a bag of pre-washed spinach leaves)
1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp raw sugar or agave nectar
1/8 cup sushi vinegar
1 tsp sesame seeds
Wash your spinach well. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Take the water off the heat and immerse the spinach in the water. Let sit, covered, for 2 - 3 minutes. Drain it and squeeze as much moisture as you can out of it, forming little balls (the spinach should have some give but not be falling apart). Set the balls aside and let them cool. Mix the tahini, soy sauce, sugar and sushi vinegar together until they are well-blended. If you want it creamier add more tahini, saltier add more soy sauce, sweeter add more sugar, tangier add more vinegar - it's pretty simple and all goma-ae sauces are different, it's down to your personal preference (I like it a little sweet myself). Once you have perfected your sesame dressing (it should be reasonably thick), pour it over the spinach balls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Let cool or refrigerate before eating. It may not seem like you get much for how much you put in, but the balls are very dense and packed with nutrition!
