Sushi Style Ham Rolls

Wow, I started a new semester yesterday and I am worried about the next 8 weeks! My two professors this semester are both giving the impression of real hard-balls! Both have the strictest schedules I've seen since I started school again and huge research paper assignments on the syllabus. Yikes! At least it'll be nicer weather outside because it really helps me to be able to do a lot of reading on the patio or lounging in a lawn chair! It also helps my tan, too!

I got this recipe from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese web site because it looked really interesting. Of course I made some changes!

6 or 12 slices deli ham (*See notes below)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup leftover cooked rice
1/4 cup thin pepper strips
1/4 cup thin cucumber strips

Divide the cream cheese and rice into six even portions. Spread a slice of (*rectangle shaped) ham to the edge with the cream cheese. Top with the rice, gently pushing in to adhere it to the cream cheese. Place two or three strips of the peppers and cucumbers at the short end of the ham slice and roll up tightly. (*If your ham cracks or is sliced too thin, roll using 2 layers of ham.)

Cut each roll into 5 pieces and serve as an appetizer, lunch, or light dinner. We ate this as a light dinner since we had eaten a late lunch that day. It took only a few minutes to whip each one up with very little mess!

These actually reminded me of real sushi, surprisingly! The rice and crisp bite from the peppers and cucumbers were correct, while the saltiness from the ham was reminiscent of the saltiness of seafood and soy sauce.

Tips:

• To make ahead and serve later, make each roll and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge and slice just before serving.
• For brighter colors feel free to use red, orange, or yellow peppers. The green ones were on sale, so I chose those.
• If you have kids, make sure you let them help out! The assembly of these is pretty straight forward and leaves little room for great mess or error!