Salmon Rice Bowl

Even a person who is committed to cooking at home for most meals needs a get-out-of-jail-free card, you know? We have a couple of places in our neighbourhood that give me that kind of break when I need it. One is Terroni, well known in Toronto for their amazing pizzas (although both Laura and I live for their Nizzarda salad), and the other is our local sushi spot. The staff are incredibly sweet and one of their walls is covered with my kids’ art so you know how often we’re there. We all have our usuals on the menu. Esme and Julian love the gyoza and California hand rolls, Ben likes the hamachi sushi and I always order a salad that combines greens, sushi rice and sashimi.

I’m not a believer in home made sushi but I’d always thought about tweaking that salad into something that could be made (safely!) at home. And this is it! It’s accidentally trendy with the current obsession for bowls, and it’s a light yet satisfying dinner. I could eat this thing every night if no one else complained. Feel free to freestyle with the veggies and go with what you’ve got. I particularly love it when the fish and rice are still warm but you could absolutely make those parts in advance and assemble it cold.

And don’t think that because I’ve figured out how to make one of my favourite restaurant meals at home that I don’t still take a break from cooking. I do, my friends, I really do.

photo by Maya Visnyei