It almost looks too good to eat. But that hasn't deterred us from gobbling our way through platefulls of this inspired new RAW FOOD item from our January 2010 menu. Los Angeles raw food consultant, Sophie, helped concoct this vegan delicacy for the pleasure of inSpiral customers who have been begging for months for a vegan twist to this classic Japanese dish.  Our vegan gourmet sushi rolls taste as vibrant and exotic as they look - and pack a delectable blast of freshness when combined with a smeer of bright green rocket-fuel (wasabi). Bam-sha-zam!

The challenge, according to Sophie, was to find something that would replace the rice but still have a texture that was close to what people are used to. After numerous experiments with different vegetables and various ways of preparing them, Sophie and the inSpiral gang finally settled upon the winning combination of parsnips, carrots, avocado and alfalfa sprouts. The result is a dish that is truly pleasing to the palette, with the sweet finely shredded vegetables contrastly beautifully with the salty sea flavours of the nori sheets and amino dipping sauce.

Like all seaweeds nori is abundant in healing properties - it has the highest protein content (48% of dry weight) and is the most easily digested of the seaweeds. Its ability to alleviate coughs and resolve mucus and congestion makes this a perfect dish for winter healing. More than that, it tastes fantastic! Get dipping and stay raw (like sushi)!