Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Sushi Style Ham Rolls

Wow, I started a new semester yesterday and I am worried about the next 8 weeks! My two professors this semester are both giving the impression of real hard-balls! Both have the strictest schedules I've seen since I started school again and huge research paper assignments on the syllabus. Yikes! At least it'll be nicer weather outside because it really helps me to be able to do a lot of reading on the patio or lounging in a lawn chair! It also helps my tan, too!

I got this recipe from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese web site because it looked really interesting. Of course I made some changes!

6 or 12 slices deli ham (*See notes below)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup leftover cooked rice
1/4 cup thin pepper strips
1/4 cup thin cucumber strips

Divide the cream cheese and rice into six even portions. Spread a slice of (*rectangle shaped) ham to the edge with the cream cheese. Top with the rice, gently pushing in to adhere it to the cream cheese. Place two or three strips of the peppers and cucumbers at the short end of the ham slice and roll up tightly. (*If your ham cracks or is sliced too thin, roll using 2 layers of ham.)

Cut each roll into 5 pieces and serve as an appetizer, lunch, or light dinner. We ate this as a light dinner since we had eaten a late lunch that day. It took only a few minutes to whip each one up with very little mess!

These actually reminded me of real sushi, surprisingly! The rice and crisp bite from the peppers and cucumbers were correct, while the saltiness from the ham was reminiscent of the saltiness of seafood and soy sauce.

Tips:
  • To make ahead and serve later, make each roll and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge and slice just before serving.
  • For brighter colors feel free to use red, orange, or yellow peppers. The green ones were on sale, so I chose those.
  • If you have kids, make sure you let them help out! The assembly of these is pretty straight forward and leaves little room for great mess or error!

9 comments:

The Diva on a Diet said...

What a great idea for an on the go lunch. Will def. try this ... minus the cukes, since I don't dig 'em. I'll do some green and red peppers instead.

Good luck with the new semester, Christina! I'm not sure I knew you were in school. What are you studying?

Christina said...

Diva I started accelerated classes last August to get another degree while out of work. It felt too weird doing nothing all day long! I'm studying Hospitality and Tourism for my future Inn! :)

Kristen @ Change of Pace said...

Girl! You are genius! What an excellent idea. You can do so many variations of it too! Flavored cream cheese, turkey, carrots... :)

Megan D said...

What a good idea! I might have to try this before conquering real sushi :)

Jenn@slim-shoppin said...

That's so cute! It really looks like sushi!

I've been mia for a week, I didn't know you are back in school, that's great!

Laura said...

I love these!!!! 4 exclamations here for this one :)
My kids who LOVE sushi will have a blast making these. Hmmm could you make them with lox?

MaryMoh said...

That's very creative and look very delicious. Would be great for parties. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Love it! Although at first glance I thought it was sauerkraut and not rice - but so fricken cute!

Andrew said...

Amazing! So simple and looks delicious! I really enjoy eating tasty sushi, so this is a great idea to make it a little different. Definitely need to try this as soon as possible!