Introduction

I hope your holiday season was as joyful and sugar-filled as ours was. We indulged as we celebrated the season - I don't think there was a single dish on our Christmas dinner buffet that wasn't bathed in cream and I couldn't have been happier.

Now a new year is upon us. A fresh start to make better choices, set new goals and to examine the year that has passed and look forward to the year ahead.

You will not find me catching the latest diet craze anytime soon. What I choose to do instead is to make small decisions that will better my health and will teach me new techniques and broaden my culinary understanding.

Sushi is the perfect choice - fun to make, endless possibilities and will most likely get you to use ingredients that aren't in your everyday arsenal. For me this was also a way to teach my two young boys about a different food culture. And while they maybe didn't gobble down the sushi as I was hoping, I'm still delighted that they were introduced to new foods. Maybe next time they will be more adventurous.

I, on the other hand, had no problems devouring platefuls. I couldn't decide if I was eating so much because it tasted so good or that I was just having so much fun making it.

Because this was for the kids I kept the ingredients pretty tame. Pickled carrots (shredded, then covered in vinegar, some sugar, salt and hot water - refrigerate for at least one hour), julienned cucumber, avocado, marinated tofu and of course, plenty of sushi rice.

Before setting out to make sushi you need to gather a few ingredients beyond what you decide to put in your rolls. I had much luck at a local Asian market.

• short grained rice
• nori
• Japanese rice wine vinegar
• pickled ginger
• prepared wasabi
• bamboo mat
• soy sauce
• sharp knife

Now that you have your supplies, go ahead and make your rice.

Sushi Rice

Ingredients

• 2 cups sushi or short grain rice
• 2 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
• 2 Tbl + 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger

Directions

Rinse the rice several times until the water runs clear.

Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.

As the rice is sitting, combine the vinegar, sugar and salt. Gently heat. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi.

If you aren't going to be using the rice right away, cover with a damp cloth. Do not place the rice in the refrigerator.

Assembling the Sushi

Cover your bamboo mat in plastic wrap. Gather all your supplies around you, including a small bowl of rice wine vinegar.

Place a sheet of nori on the bamboo mat. Dab your fingers in the vinegar then grab about a cup of sushi rice. Carefully spread the rice over the nori. The bulk of the rice should be in the middle. Cover the entire sheet of nori leaving about 1/4 inch at the top.

Once the nori is covered with rice, place your sushi ingredients near the bottom third, leaving about 2 inches on the bottom. Grab the bottom of your bamboo mat and tightly wrap the nori around the sushi ingredients. Wet the top 1/4 inch with rice wine vinegar then continue to roll up very tightly.

Unravel the bamboo and should have a very nice roll. Carefully, with a very sharp knife, cut the sushi in 8 equal pieces. First cut the roll in 1/2 then cut those halves in half, etc.

Place a plate with wasabi, pickled ginger and a dipping bowl of soy sauce.

Eat. Enjoy and feel great about what you are eating.

About Ashley E. Rodriguez

Food became my life while living in Italy. Growing up I was fortunate to have been brought up around a mother who intuitively knew how to cook, and just by being around that, it rubbed off on me. But it was in Italy where I truly began to appreciate the power of good food.

For me food is so much more than following a recipe in order to reach a desired product. As much as I enjoy that tasty product and the process in which it was created, my personal infatuation with food focuses on the aspects that go beyond satisfying a bodily hunger. I am completely and utterly obsessed with food because of its effect on the people who consume it, grow it, produce it, enjoy it, and live for it. Food is culture, it nourishes our bodies, it is passion, it is hard work, and for many it is their livelihood.

My culinary career has been primarily pastry focused. I worked under the Captain of the winning American Coupe du Monde team (the Olympics of bread baking) at the Essential Bread Baking Company in Seattle, WA. From there I went on to Los Angeles where I studied under Sherry Yard (Executive Pastry Chef for Wolfgang Puck's restaurant empire) at Wolfgang Puck's famous Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills. While working with Sherry, I also assisted her with her second book, Desserts By The Yard.

I moved back to Washington State and began my pastry business, fulfilling all sweet needs. You can see my work in numerous publications including Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom. Currently I am focusing on training my two young boys to have distinguished palates. You can also find me writing, teaching and creating a television program on the subject of real, good food.

Photographs copyright by Gabriel Rodriguez. Used with permission.