Something’s fishy about sushi.

Many people regard sushi as light fare – individual bites of effortless, diet-friendly goodness. However, the Japanese delight bears some danger zones that you should consider before making sushi a regular occasion.

Just like a salad, sushi can easily turn fattening if the add-ins begin to overwhelm the point of it all. One tuna roll has some 200 calories, but if you opt for the shrimp tempura roll, we’re talking upwards of 500 calories and 20 grams of fat. Many of us don’t even stop at one roll, either, so while each bite may feel light, the calories are adding up.

Other sneaky offenders include soy sauce, rice, and raw fish. Soy sauce may be low in calories, but it makes up for it with its high sodium content – one tablespoon of regular soy sauce contains up to 900 milligrams! White rice alone is adding both empty starches and extra calories to your diet while raw fish is putting you at risk of foodborne diseases by way of bacteria, viruses, parasites and mercury.

When eating out, avoid making tuna your go-to roll in order to reduce your risk of mercury exposure. If you can’t separate sushi from tempura, cream cheese, or any other fried or decadent add-ins, look at sushi as a rare indulgence rather than a daily pick-me-up. And if you want to keep things super safe, always order the veggie roll.

To keep the standards high and the mystery at bay, try making your own vegetable sushi. The following recipe is a homemade, frills-free way of doing just that. Packed with veggies, cauliflower rice, and the creaminess of the avocado, you can have your sushi and eat it too!

Homemade Cauliflower Sushi

Makes 6-8 rolls

Ingredients:

• 6-8 nori sheets
• 1 cup shredded cauliflower
• 1 carrot
• 1 cucumber
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 avocado
• 2 scallions
• Nama Shoyu for dipping
• Fresh ginger for a palette cleanse

Directions:

Place the pepper on a stove top on high heat, making sure to turn it occasionally until it is completely blackened. Immediately place into a paper bag, store, and set aside while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.

Julienne the cucumber, carrots and scallions. Slice, core, and remove the avocado meat – slice into thin pieces. All the vegetables should be the same size. When the red pepper has cooled, remove it from the bag and under warm water, use your hands to wipe off the blackened skin. It will come off easily. Remove the pepper’s stem and seeds and julienne it.

In a food processor, process cauliflower florets until rice-like in consistency. This will be the “rice”.

Lay out each nori sheet and on one end, parallel to the dotted lines on the sheet, layer the cauliflower rice, 2 slices each of cucumber, carrot, red pepper and avocado.

Roll tightly, folding the nori unto itself as you go.

Wet the edge with a bit of water to help it stick closed.

Slice into sushi-sized pieces and serve with Nama Shoyu, which is unpasteurized soy sauce, and fresh ginger. Enjoy!

Images: Avlxyz, Aylin Erman

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Nutritional Breakdown: Veggie Sushi (Without a Speck of Rice) appeared first on EcoSalon.

Using patented no-waste technology, knitwear brand Kotoba makes pieces that are as conscious as they are covetable.

At New York Fashion Week, knitwear seemed to make an appearance in some form on just about every runway. On Thursday, collective knitwear brand Kotoba celebrated the launch of their Spring/Summer 2013 collection with a fun, low-key presentation at The Maritime Hotel in the Meatpacking District.

Kotoba is the Japanese word for language and the collection, designed by Melinda Danko and Lindsay Mann, featured timeless pieces in simple, versatile silhouettes enhanced by unexpected structural details and textures. Basics in black, taupe and ivory were complemented by pieces in bright and playful colors, particularly orange and mint green, two of the most on trend hues this fall and going into spring.

“We were inspired by multiple things, but it all came down to leisure activity,” says Melinda Danko. “We thought about the one thing that people forget to do, which is how to enjoy themselves – how to have fun doing sport activities, going to the beach, taking care of environment – things that are important in life.” This playful spirit was evident in the presentation, as the models were given props like footballs, skateboards and baseball bats.

“Lindsay and I developed the collection very organically,” says Danko. “We just burst out ideas and silhouettes and with the yarns we have it just came together. We started with one design and it all just fell into place after that”

All the pieces in the collection are produced using WHOLEGARMENT technology, a patented production technique derived from Shima Seiki, a Japanese knitwear machine manufacturer that has been around for fifty years, but has more recently, in the past five years, developed knitting machines for making clothing. It’s an innovative way of producing knitwear that is lightweight and stretchy and made virtually without any waste.

“We wanted to bring back crafts and trade and the sustainability aspect to the U.S. domestic market,” says Danko. “Everything we make is seamless, there’s no waste in the production, and the entire collection (except the yarns, which are from Italy) is made in America”

Kotoba’s spring collection is everything I love about sustainable fashion – it’s locally and ethically produced (in NYC’s Garment District), using innovative technology, but it’s also fun, sexy, wearable and timeless.

Danko says: “We make qaulity garments that, yes, you are going to spend more money on. But the lifetime and durability makes them pieces that you can have in your wardrobe and love for years.”

The post NYFW: Kotoba’s Covetable Knitwear, Made with Zero-Waste Technology appeared first on EcoSalon.

Besides being impossibly adorable, this painted enamel adaptation of the Asian field worker’s tacked lunch box is the ideal container for a dieter on the go.

I received one as a gift from my boss over a cup of Joe and a lesson on social networking. She said, “Here, take this and have fun with it. Maybe your kids can use it.”

Maybe, not! I’m not about to let them have another cool gift of mine so they can abandon it on the blacktop, allowing the contents to rot over the course of several months or convert it into a Barbie submarine bath toy.

Noooo. I’m going to pack healthy snacks in the tiered compartments because every dieter knows, failing to plan is planning to fail. If you don’t have those chopped organic veggies and fruits handy, you reach for the so-called protein bars (a.k.a. candy) or bagels (six points).

I know this sounds a bit crazy (’cause I am) but I even take it downstairs into the basement with me while I write so that I can keep nose to keyboard and not have to flee every time I get a craving for a chunk of jicama. I’ve also taken it with me when I have to drive a distance and get lots of looks from people who see me toting it. “That lady is stacked,” they’re thinking, and I like the fact they envy what I got on me, you know what I mean?

The best news is my bento is yet another way to eliminate throw-away bags and plastic and is awfully stylish compared to many of the reusable lunch containers made for work and school. It doesn’t leak and is dishwasher safe, too, for those who are sticklers about sanitation – and you should be.

And guess what? VivaTerra is even offering to give away this ultra-cool lunch box for you EcoSalon readers. Just post a comment on how you think you would use it to be entered to win one of your own!

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