Sushi or pasta?
That is usually mine and Jared’s go-to date night menu. We are trying to expand, but sushi and pasta are fanciful comfort food. In year 3 of dating, we’d had a bi-weekly sushi date night at our favorite sushi place in Portland, Bamboo Sushi, and when we didn’t want to make the trek Downtown, we went to a smaller chain of sushi restaurants here called Mio Sushi. Some of our best little dates. Since then, we have been making our sushi at home, nowhere near as skillfully, but it made it more of a bonding activity and quality time, which is my love language. We would load up at H-Mart and make hand rolls similar to the style of sushi we got at. KazuNori while we were visiting one of my best friends in LA. I drool just thinking about their fresh, warm rice rolls. Making hand rolls like theirs is much easier than doing large stuffed rolls for us. We’ve gotten good at presenting and making it a special occasion for ourselves, and I’d like to inspire you for Valentine’s Day.
Why make a paleo sushi board?
Don’t get me wrong; I love rice. But I don’t always feel the best after eating it in the vast quantities I would like to eat. ? During the time of shooting this post, Jared and I were doing this extreme reset program that told you to follow a diet, and we always felt better when we ate paleo, we’re both lactose intolerant, and we’re both kinds of high risk when it comes to Type 2 Diabetes. Aside from health reasons and our circumstances, it was an exciting challenge to figure out how to eat foods we love within these constraints. I’m a masochist who likes a good problem to solve. As a human Border Collie, I need the mental stimulation, so I don’t wreak havoc or cause property damage. ?
What makes this board paleo?
First is the exclusion of rice. Second, there is no soy included either. I’ve included our mixture of Coconut Aminos and Paleo Compliant Fish Sauce that we subbed down in the recipe below. Third, it’s all sashimi! It’s raw, fresh fish that we’ll gobble up on crispy nori. If you don’t want raw fish, consider searing the fish or try cooked shrimp instead. Sashimi is one of the best Sushi options for the Paleo diet.
Does it have to be fish/sushi? Do you have other food platter ideas?
No, it does not have to be sushi. You can always go classic cheeseboard or put anything on a platter or board. Plating and presentation always add a touch of luxury when ordering take-out. The point is to share your favorite foods with your favorite sweetie and have fun! We’ve done things like a massive platter of fast food on a rimmed baking sheet as well. And if you like pasta as we do, I suggest checking out our Baked Pasta Bread Bowl Recipe that Tiana wrote up and having a little Lady and the Tramp moment.
What if I don’t want to make the sushi myself?
You can order in! Support your local fishmonger and then arrange your take out with herbs, lemon, fresh edible flower petals to amp up the romantic factor. If you want to cut your sashimi, I recommend checking out this video to learn how to cut fish. Poke around Youtube to learn more.
I hope you’re inspired to come up with your boards! Take a pic and tag us on Instagram and add #whiskeywhileweworkblog. We’d love to see your creations!
Cheers babe,
KK
Paleo Sashimi Board for Valentine's Date Night
This is a healthy-ish, impressive seafood spin on the Charcuterie Board that will surely woo your sweetie or whoever you build this board for. We won’t tell if you make it for yourself! You deserve it!
Ingredients
- 1 lb or more of Sushi Grade Raw Fish: Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail
- 1 avocado
- 1 jar of Black Caviar or Tobiko
- 1/4 cup of Salmon Row
- 1 jar of pickled white or pink ginger
- 1 small lemon, sliced
- 1 Japanese, Persian or English Cucumber sliced
- 1 Pepper, we used a banana pepper, but you can do Jalapeño or bell pepper.
- Extra herbs and edible flowers for garnish
Paleo “Soy Sauce”
- 2 tbsp of Coconut Aminos
- 1 tbsp of Paleo Compliant Fish Sauce, Red Boat is one of our favorites.
- 1 tsp of Wasabi or more to taste
Directions
Build the Board
- Gather the serving ware, plates, and platter. We chose a wooden cheese board with organic edges and small sauce dishes to prop up ingredients on our board.
- Prep the ingredients. This means everything is cleaned and cut, and ready to go on your board. This part takes a bit of time, but you’ll want to have this out of the way before you start plating. Wash all your vegetables, herbs, and flowers and set them aside to dry on a paper towel. Cut all your fish and veggies to the desired size and amount.
- Arrange the dishes and platter. Try different placements or keep it simple. I like to play with symmetry when plating or think about what you want to draw attention to the most.
- Place the bottom layer garnishes. We placed a bed of cucumber and Shiso leaves to call out the sashimi ingredients.
- Place the main show stoppers. The fish will be your main show stoppers, and we placed them right in the center. We also set our avocado slices.
- Fill in the gaps with garnishes and side ingredients. We used pickled ginger, lemon slices, banana peppers, and Holy Basil.
- Top with the last ingredients and edible flowers. We placed our caviar and Jasmine flowers at this point. Not all flowers are edible, and only one kind of Jasmine flower is (Jasminum sambac), so do some research and buy food-grade, high-quality flowers, and fish!
- Enjoy immediately.
Paleo “Soy Sauce”
- Mix Paleo Compliant Fish Sauce and Coconut Amino in a bowl, and feel free to add Wasabi now if you are using it.
- Split between smaller sauce dishes for everyone.
- Serve on the side of your board.
Tips & Tricks:
? Read your labels and make sure that all your ingredients are paleo compliant if you are making it paleo.
? Have fun and be patient with yourself. This board has a lot of moving parts so trust yourself.
