Over the weekend, I put a spin to the usual California rolls I typically make and made some BLT rolls. BLT is the acronym for bacon, lettuce, and tomato, a combination usually served on two pieces of sliced bread as a sandwich. I got into the BLT sandwich after my brothers introduced me to the combination during my childhood. To this day, my brothers would still order a BLT sandwich whenever they wanted something quick for lunch. They prefer their BLT sandwich with mayonnaise. I often omit the mayonnaise from my BLT sandwich. Kevin tends to be indifferent and can usually go with or without mayonnaise. Today, I had a craving for a BLT sandwich and instead of serving the bacon, lettuce, and tomato on two slices of bread, I decided to add them as fillings in my hand rolls. My BLT rolls made for a fairly quick meal to serve as a late lunch/early dinner. It has only been a few days since Kevin and I returned back from our honeymoon to Italy. Yet, we are both having a hard time fully adjusting back to the current time zone. For some reason, both Kevin and I seem to have an easier time adjusting to jetlag and time zone changes when we travel abroad than when we return back home. Once we return back home though, we always need at least a few days to readjust to the time zone change. On our first day back from Italy, Kevin took naps throughout the day. I stayed awake long enough to do two loads of laundry and pick up some dinner before falling asleep. The next day though, I slept until almost 11:00 in the morning. I did not realize how exhausted I was until I had a hard time rolling out of bed in the morning. To help my body adjust back to the current time zone quicker, I started to immediately resume some of the routine activities I usually did throughout the week. On Sunday, I went to the gym early in the morning to squeeze in a run on the treadmill. My usual hour-long interval run proved to be a challenge after I took almost two weeks off from running. It always surprises me how difficult it can be to get back to my exercise routine after I take a break from it. Later in the day, we attended the one-year old birthday party of our two friends’ son. The moment we got back home from the party, I could feel my eyes getting tired again. Thank goodness we had a long weekend to recover from our trip before returning back to work. I again stayed up long enough to prepare some food before falling asleep. My BLT rolls made for the perfect late lunch/early dinner to help us on our path to readjusting our body clocks.
For the sushi rice:
· 1 cup sushi rice
· 1¼ cups water
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
For the rest of the BLT roll:
· 2 nori seaweed sheets
· 2 pieces bacon strips, cooked until desired crispiness
· ½ small head of lettuce, thinly sliced
· ½ small tomato, sliced into strips
· Sweet soy sauce for serving
Directions:
1) Heat a small pot on medium heat. Add the sushi rice and water. Once the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium low. Sprinkle in the salt and sugar. Stir to combine the ingredients. Close the lid and let the rice cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Let the cooked rice cool for 20 minutes before using to make rolls.
2) To assemble the BLT roll, lay a sheet of nori seaweed on a bamboo mat (wrapped in plastic wrap) or a nonstick surface. Add a layer of sushi rice until it covers ¾ of the seaweed sheet. Add a strip of bacon (folded in half lengthwise), some thinly sliced lettuce, and several strips of sliced tomato on the end of the sheet with the sushi rice. Begin tightly rolling the BLT roll until you form a log. Press the edges to seal the roll.
3) To slice the BLT roll, start in the middle and slice the roll in half. Slice the two halves in half two more times until you form eight pieces or into thirds to form six pieces. Serve your rolls with some sweet soy sauce.
Takeaways: To ensure clean cuts, wipe your knife between each cut of the BLT roll. If you are a fan of mayonnaise, feel free to add some into your BLT roll prior to rolling and cutting. Since the bacon is already salty, I balanced the saltiness of the roll by serving the roll with some sweet soy sauce. If you don’t have sweet soy sauce, you can make your own by dissolving one tablespoon of sugar into ¼ cup of soy sauce or you can just use some low sodium soy sauce.