I’m lucky enough to have a cousin bestie and we’ve been talking about getting together for sushi night since I started making it a few months ago! It was past due. It’s her fiance’s birthday on Friday so I thought this week would be perfect to finally have sushi night and celebrate. I invited them and my brother over last night for a sushi dinner and should have thought about planning dinner on field trip day. I was tired from hiking with 21 8 year olds through the rain at the nature center, but I was also excited to have them come over. Luckily, after many sushi attempts I think I’ve got it down to a science and it doesn’t take much time now. The key is prep.

I made the same meal that I made for Josh and I’s anniversary and it’s a really easy meal for a crowd. It gives some diversity and once you make one, you might as well just make 6.  It’s also a great meal for a crowd because I bought the edamame frozen and the vegetable gyozas frozen from Trader Joe’s so you just have to warm them up and they’re an easy appetizer and side dish. I heated the edamame in the microwave then added himalayan salt, then dry pan fried the dumplings and steamed them and you can cover with tin foil to keep them warm so it’s an easy make ahead side. I was flattered that my brother thought I made the gyozas myself, but I’m too traumatized from my New Year’s dumpling experience so the TJ’s ones are my safe bet.

For sushi rolls, I made 6 rolls for the 5 of us which ended up being the perfect amount. We were full in combination with the other two things and I served the sushi with ginger, soy sauce, sriracha, and sweet chili sauce for the dumplings. I used my reusable chopsticks and it came together quickly. You just have to time everything out and try to do as much as you can before people come over so that you can visit while you finish up and you’re not stressed.

I heated the edamame and dumplings before they came and made 5 out of 6 sushi rolls. They wanted to see how I roll, so I waited to show them how to make the last one. I put the rice in to cook about an hour and a half before they came so that the rice was still warm because it’s easier to spread on the nori that way and it stays sticky. Allison even said she liked the vegetable sushi almost better than regular fish sushi because every bite is delicious, whereas sometimes you get those weird chewy, fishy bites. She’s the 3rd person to tell me they like my sushi better than the fish version so it’s a nice feeling!

They cleaned my kitchen up in about 6 minutes so that always makes it a really nice way to end the day! I’ll cook any day of the week if I have clean up help.

Menu

Lightly Salted Edamame

Vegetable Gyozas with sweet chili and soy sauces

Grilled Teriyaki Portobello, Asparagus, and Avocado roll

Mango, cucumber, avocado and green onion roll

Spring mix, carrot, cucumber, and avocado roll

Grilled Teriyaki Portobello, Green onion, Asparagus, and Cucumber Roll

Then just use whatever you have left to create new combinations! It’s all good.