Friday, August 1, 2014

Vegetarian Pot Stickers

I love Potstickers.

The end.

Nah, not really, but when I see them offered at a Chinese buffet, I'll usually load a couple or three onto my plate and enjoy them.   And I've even made them from time to time in the past, and they've been good.

I realized this past week that the last time I'd made them was in my pre-blog days.
So I remedied that for Tapas.   And of course when I decided to make Potstickers, I did so with the expectation that I had a half a head of cabbage hiding in the bottom of my veggie drawer in the fridge.  It wasn't there when I looked.   I guess I'd used it up before my trip and forgot to purchase another one.  If I'd realized that when I went to buy the wonton wrappers at the store, I would have picked one up then.

Wait a minute, come to think of it, they were out of wonton wrappers at the store as well, so I bought egg roll wrappers and just cut them up.

Think the universe was trying to tell me something and I just didn't want to listen?

Wouldn't be the first time.

I wanted to make the Potstickers vegetarian anyway, so I cooked up some quinoa,
and since I didn't have any cabbage, I decided to go ahead and chop up some frozen Asian Style veggies, along with a half pound of mushrooms.
  I did a kind of fine dice on all of them, stir fried them in a little coconut oil, and mixed the quinoa in with it.  Set it aside to cool.    And you know, it tasted really good at this point, but I did add a little sesame seed oil, soy sauce and  some grated ginger to it as well.













I got out my egg roll wrappers, cut them into quarters, then decided that I really needed little circles.

   Click here if you want to watch the process of filling and folding and pleating   But if you don't feel like watching, let me try to explain it.


 First I tried cutting them with my trusty little biscuit cutter.  But it wasn't all that easy. 
So I got a little smarter than the cutter, and turned it upside down, then pressed the wrappers down over it and cut them that way.  It was easier, well, actually prettier, to make the potstickers out of little rounds.   
Take a wonton wrapper, place a scant teaspoonful of filling in the middle.  Wet the edges of the wrapper, fold over the other side of the wrapper, making pleats in it.  You're aiming for a flat bottom and a pretty pleated top.
Go ahead and try this, I'll wait.  Remember, wrapper, filling, moisten, fold and pleat.
Got it?
Good, cause I didn't get a picture of the process.
 
OK, now just go ahead and do it with the rest, or as many as you can fit into a skillet at one time.  I can usually get about two dozen in my pan.
But don't put them in there yet. 
Next step, add a couple spritz's of cooking spray to the pan, and then a little olive oil, or coconut oil. Heat up, and then add the potstickers, flat side down.  And the picture I took of this was way too blurry to use, so just imagine them browning away.   As soon as they're browned a little, add some water, about a 1/4 cup or so, stick a lid on the pan, let it steam away, then take the lid off after a couple of minutes, and pry the potstickers off of the bottom of the pan.
If you did this right, you won't need to pry, just slip a thin spatula under them, and place them on a plate with some gyoza sauce.  
See how pretty?   I had a few for dinner, giggle. 

Recipe:  Vegetarian Potstickers
1 cup cooked quinoa
8 oz. chopped fresh mushrooms
1 cup frozen Asian Style Vegetables, chopped
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Saute the mushrooms and veggies together, chop finely, if not already chopped mix in with the cooked quinoa, add the sesame seed oil, soy sauce and ginger.  Taste, add more seasonings if needed.  You can also add some Gyoza sauce here if you like.   Set aside to cool for a little bit.
Take out the gyoza or wonton wrappers, add a scant teaspoon of the filling, fold over, pleat and set aside, continue until you run out of wrappers, then eat the rest of the filling.  Just kidding, but it is tasty.  So if you do have some filling left over, go ahead and eat it.

 And this is how they looked on the Tapas table.


Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

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