Sushi Safety: Tips and Recipes (cont.)

Although sushi purists will probably prefer a white rice version, brown rice works, too.

1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons Splenda sweetener (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups hot cooked medium white rice (or medium brown rice)

• Add vinegar, sugar, Splenda (if desired), and salt to a 2-cup measure and stir to blend. Heat in a microwave for 20 seconds or so and then let cool.
• Drizzle vinegar mixture slowly over hot, cooked rice in an 8-cup measure or medium bowl, stirring and blending in as you go. After incorporating the last bit of vinegar, the rice should stick together and take a shape more easily.

Yield: About 4 cups of sticky rice (1/2 cup per serving)

Per serving (with white rice): 135 calories, 2.5 g protein, 30 g carbohydrate, 0.2 g fat, 0.05 g saturated fat, 0.5 g fiber, 135 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 2%. (with brown rice): 114 calories, 2.5 g protein, 24 g carbohydrate, 0.8 g fat, .1 g saturated fat, 1.7 g fiber, 135 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 6%.

Real California Roll

Journal as: 1 1/2 cups "hearty stew, chili or bean soup" + 1/4 cup "starchy food without added fat" OR 1 cup "entree salad with meat" + 3/4 cup "starchy foods and legumes without added fat"

I live in California and have tasted my share of California rolls over the years, and this crab, avocado, and cream cheese variation is my favorite.

1 1/4 cups crabmeat (about 1/4 pound)
4 tablespoons light cream cheese
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
1 green onion (the white and part of the green), optional
4 sheets dried seaweed (Musubi Nori), found in the Asian food section of many supermarkets
4 cups "sticky rice" (one recipe of Simple Sushi Rice)
About 3/4 of an avocado, pitted and sliced
Wasabi paste
Light soy sauce

• Add crabmeat, light cream cheese, light mayonnaise, and green onion (if desired) to small food processor (or small mixing bowl) and pulse or beat until nicely blended.
• Turn a burner of your stove to low flame or low heat. Wave a sheet of nori over the heat (both sides) to soften slightly. Lay the sheet of nori on a bamboo sushi roller (available at import stores and Asian markets).
• Dip your hands in warm water, and use them to spread a cup of hot, sticky rice on the nori, leaving a 1-inch border on each long side. Spread about 1/4 teaspoon wasabi paste in a horizontal strip down the middle of the rectangle of rice. Arrange a heaping 1/4 cup of the crab mixture (one-fourth of the total mixture) down the center of the rice rectangle. Arrange avocado slices down the center as well.
• Roll up the bamboo mat, pressing forward, to shape the sushi into a cylinder so that the two long edges of the nori meet and overlap slightly. Press the roll firmly inside the bamboo roller. Remove roll from the bamboo mat and wrap it with foil or plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator until needed. Repeat with remaining nori, rice, crab, and avocado. When ready to serve, cut each roll into about 8 pieces using a serrated knife. Serve with light soy sauce.

Yield: 4 California rolls (about one roll per serving)

Per serving (with white rice): 410 calories, 16 g protein, 66 g carbohydrates, 8.8 g fat, 2.2 g saturated fat, 43 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 440 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 19%.

Recipes provided by Elaine Magee; © 2006 Elaine Magee

Published April 13, 2006

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SOURCES: Critical Steps Toward Safer Seafood, Food and Drug Administration website (Nov-Dec 1997; revised Feb. 1998 and Feb. 1999). Environmental Nutrition, November 1997. WebMD news article: 7 Risky Foods Falling off the Menu by Miranda Hitti, published March 21, 2006. Erica Weis, MPH, Research Scientist II, California Department of Health Services. Janet McDonald, public information office, Food and Drug Administration, San Francisco District Office.

Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, is the "Recipe Doctor" for the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic and the author of numerous books on nutrition and health. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.

©2006 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.