Vegetable Potsticker Dumplings 3 Ways

I'll admit it. I was jealous. You would be to if you looked at these fantastic delicious dumplings and pot stickers. I was jealous, but inspired. A few weekends back, I made batches of these and put them in the freezer. Below are 3 recipes for preparing vegetarian potsticker dumplings with ready-prepared wonton wrappers (square or circular). Although I use the word dumpling often, these are probably closer to potstickers, since they are first lightly pan fried in a skillet, and then steamed, hence potsticker dumplings.

Prepare the ingredients, and then lay out the fillings in bowls. Set out the wonton wrappers, a small bowl of water, and a freezer-safe tray or dish. Fill each wrapper with 1 tsp of stuffing, wet the borders on one side of the wrapper, and fold together. You can make nice pleats if you want; avoid over-stuffing as it'll make it difficult to stay closed. Freeze dumplings before transferring them to freezer safe storage bags. Don't forget to label them if you make multiple recipes.

When ready to cook (frozen or fresh) heat up 1 tbsp of peanut oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add in dumplings in a single layer, and cook 1-2 minutes (fresh), and 2-4 minutes (frozen) or until bottoms are golden. Add in ¼ cup of water, and steam the dumplings until the water evaporates, about 2 minutes. Carefully, remove the dumplings (or pot stickers) and serve immediately with some dipping sauce. I like to mix together 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp green onions. Four to five dumplings make a nice appetizer.

Recipe 1: Chinese 5-spice potsticker dumplings

1 block of tempeh, steamed and crumbled

1 tbsp peanut oil

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

1 medium carrot, grated

1 cup napa cabbage, shredded

1, 1/2-inch piece of ginger, chopped fine

2 green onions, chopped fine

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped fine

½ tsp Chinese 5-spice powder

30 wonton wrappers

1. Bring a small pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add in tempeh and turn heat down to medium. Steam/boil for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Crumble into a fine texture once cool enough to handle.
2. In a large bowl combine carrot, cabbage, ginger, green onions, and cilantro. Stir to combine.
3. Heat the peanut oil over high heat in a wide skillet, add in garlic and tempeh and stir-fry 5 minutes. Once golden, add in carrot through cilantro mixture. Continue to cook 2 minutes and stir in Chinese 5-spice powder. Remove to a bowl to cool.

Recipe 2: Chinese dumplings with cabbage, mushrooms and leeks

Recipe adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The recipe calls for 24 wonton wrappers, but when I made this it made closer to 50.

1 pound napa cabbage or 4 generous cups, shredded, or sliced very fine

salt

½ cup whole shiitake or oyster mushrooms, finely chopped (*see note below)

2 tbsp leeks or green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

1, ½-piece ginger, chopped fine

1 tsp rice-wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

50 wonton wrappers

*Note: you can also use ¼ cup dried black Chinese mushrooms, and ¼ cup dried tree ear mushrooms, rehydrated, and chopped. If using these, omit shiitake, and use fresh mushrooms instead.

1. Set the cabbage in a colander over the sink. Salt the cabbage generously and let sit for about an hour. Squeeze excess water from cabbage. Rinse the cabbage lightly to get rid of the salt. Taste to make sure it isn't too salty.
2. Combine cabbage, mushrooms, leeks or green onions, garlic, ginger, and rice-wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.
3. When ready to cook, add in ½ cup of water instead of ¼ cup of water and steam them for 7 minutes. Since the stuffing is raw, it'll cook the veggies down a bit.

Recipe 3: Spicy edamame potsticker dumplings

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light magazine. I have made these several times, and they are the simplest dumplings to prepare.

1 cup edamame, shelled (if frozen, cooked according to package directions)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp red chili flakes

½ tsp cumin

1 tsp sesame oil

salt and pepper to taste

20 wonton wrappers

1. Combine edamame, lemon juice, red chili flakes, and cumin in a food processor; process until smooth, do not over process. Stir in sesame oil, and taste. Adjust with salt and pepper. To make without a food processor, smash the beans when they are hot with potato masher, and then add in rest of ingredients and continue to smash.

Dipping sauce: Soy-rice-sesame dipping sauce

3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp toasted sesame oil or dark sesame oil

Optional: 1 tbsp green onions or 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1. Combine all ingredients together and stir in green onions or sesame seeds if using. Serve immediately. You can alter the proportions of any ingredient, or omit them. To make a spicier dipping sauce, add in ¼ tsp red chili flakes and 1 clove minced fresh garlic.

Beanie Jose's with Mustard Roasted Brussels Sprouts

These are meatless sloppy joe's with taco seasoning, so I present: Beanie Jose's
Tempeh provides a meaty texture and the red kidney beans help pull everything together. This recipe was adapted from Mark Bittman's Almost Meatless Sloppy Joes which was featured in the May 2010 Cooking Light magazine.  This recipe is meatless and delicious.  Everything comes together in about 30 minutes, making this an easy weeknight meal.

You can use a ready prepared taco mix, or you can make your own.  Serve the beanie jose's on top of toasted kaiser rolls and top with sliced red onion rings.  I served with a side of roasted brussels sprouts. Preheat the oven to 400 F, prep the brussels sprouts, then heat the water for the tempeh.

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

2 c water
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 T minced garlic, about 2-3 medium cloves worth
1/2 t salt
1/4 t fresh black pepper
3/4 cup tempeh, cut into 2" chunks (about 1/2 of a block of tempeh)
1/2 cup grated carrot (1/2 of a large carrot)
2 t taco seasoning (see below)
1 t brown sugar
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4 t crushed red chili flakes
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 14 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
4-6 kaiser rolls
1 medium red onion, sliced into rings

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, heat up 2 cups of water over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in tempeh and simmer for 10 minutes. Simmering the tempeh helps reduce the bitterness.
2. In a non-stick skillet heat up the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in onion and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes.
3. Crumble tempeh and add it into the pan. Continue breaking the tempeh apart until it resembles grounds. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add in carrots, taco seasoning, sugar, oregano, and red pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in tomatoes and mix everything together.  Continue to cook for 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, add half the beans to the pan, and mash the other half in a small bowl. Add in the mashed beans and stir everything together until the beans are heated through.
7. Top the bottom half of each roll with 3/4-1 cup of the beanie jose's. Serve alongside some onion rings.

Taco seasoning:
1 T ancho chili powder (you could also use dried chipotle powder)
1-2 t cumin
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t dried onion flakes
1/4 t smoked Spanish paprika
1/4 t salt
1/4 t fresh black pepper
1/4 t red chili powder
1 t oregano, dried

1. Mix all the spices and herbs together. Store in an airtight container.
Yield: 3-4 T (depending on if you add/minus ingredients)

Mustard Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
1-1/2 c brussel sprouts, (measure them whole, then cut them in half, or quarter them depending on size)
1 T olive oil

For dressing:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 T water
1 T olive oil
1 tsp capers, rinsed
1/8 tsp coarse sea salt
fresh black pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.
1. Quarter or halve the brussels sprouts and toss them with 1 T of olive oil.
2. Place them in a pan and roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring often.
3. Combine the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.
4. Toss the dressing with the roasted brussels sprouts and serve immediately.

Tempeh Wings, Things, and Stumps

TEMPEH WINGS!

I like tempeh and I like wing sauce. After much searching, and trial and error, I have found the best combination of recipes for tempeh wings (or things, or stumps, or fingers, or whatever you want to call them). These are simply marvelous, fantastic, and finger-licking good.

To make the tempeh wings, I followed this recipe and post of The Ordinary Vegetarian's Tempeh Hot Wings.  I think the recipe has gone viral, as I have found it on many vegan blogs, but Sarah's directions are really easy to follow, and I kept getting distracted by all the other delicious recipes she has posted (which I hope to add to a future week of meals).

To make these really crunchy, put the steamed tempeh in the soy milk/rice milk, dredge in flour, re-dip in the soy milk/rice milk, and then dredge in the breadcrumbs. I used Panko breadcrumbs, soy milk instead of rice milk, and smoked paprika.  Honestly, I will put smoked paprika into anything. I had to increase the baking time by about 20 minutes, but I think you can put them in and take them out when browned enough.  Toss in wing sauce once they come out of the oven.

I liked the simplicity of Vegan Dad's wing sauce: half margarine and half wing sauce.  His post on making your own vegan wings was pretty impressive.  I utilized butter and Thai sriracha sauce with a splash of Tabasco to very appetizing results.  I have 3 kinds of hot sauce in the pantry, and I just couldn't justify buying another one.  I can't wait to try the BBQ sauce, and the number of other appetizing recipes.

I served up my tempeh "things" with some coleslaw:


This coleslaw utilizes the seasonings of a ranch-based dressing, in yogurt thinned with water.

Ranch-Yogurt Coleslaw:
Serves 4
1/2 of a medium head of green cabbage, shredded or sliced thin. I prefer slicing, because the shredding just destroys the cabbage
2 carrots, shredded
1 red bell pepper, chopped

For coleslaw dressing:
1/2 cup or more plain yogurt (the European yogurt I buy is runnier than US yogurts, so I think I used 3/4 cup of yogurt thinned with 3 T of water).
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp dried garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp salt
fresh black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Mix together cabbage, carrots and bell pepper in a large bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl, combine yogurt through black pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings.
3. Thin the yogurt with approx. 3 T of water. If the dressing is too thick, thin with more water.
4. Stir into cabbage mixture and adjust seasonings if needed. 

Green Yellow Tempeh Thai Curry

Simmering the tempeh in water removes the bitterness and allows the tempeh to pick up more flavor.  Get the rice cooking first as the stir-fry comes together quickly.

Green-Yellow Curry

1 cup water

1 block tempeh, cut into 1" cubes

2 T of oil for tempeh

1 cup basmati rice

2 1/2 cups water

1 T of oil for stir fry

1 T Thai green curry paste

1 T soy sauce

1 can coconut milk

juice of 1/2 lime

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1/2 eggplant, cut into 2" strips

1/2 zucchini, quartered

1 red onion, sliced

Directions:

1. Heat 1 cup water in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Once hot, simmer tempeh for 8-10 minutes.  
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the curry paste, lime juice, soy sauce and turmeric with the coconut milk. Set aside. 
3. Drain tempeh and set aside to cool.  In the same medium sauce pan, combine rice and water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Stir the rice occasionally while it is boiling. When most of the water has evaporated, cover the rice, turn down to low and let sit.  
4. Heat 2 T of oil over medium heat in a wide skillet. Once hot, saute tempeh over medium heat until golden, turning every few minutes. 
5. Once golden, remove from pan, set aside, and add 1 T oil and heat over medium.
6. Add in onions and saute for 3 minutes. 
7. Add in eggplant and zucchini and saute for 3 more minutes. 
8. Add in coconut milk mixture and vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Add in tempeh and stir to combine. 

Hot Sauced Glazed Tofu

Know anyone that hates tofu much? Loves tofu much? This tofu recipe is the answer to both responses. Make it whenever you want to introduce or serve tofu to someone that you know. This recipe is from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's cookbook(s) Veganomicon and from their cooking website the Post Punk Kitchen.

They have 2 cookbooks (and looks like one more about brunches) that are great books for any vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous diet. Their cooking takes some innovative skills in the kitchen, but their recipes are very good and fun to make, and above all creative and daring.

Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh
or page 129

***I didn't have a few essentials from the recipe so here is my khavanu'd version below. If you want their exact directions purchase their cookbook, visit their site, borrow from a friend or library***


Ingredients

1 Package extra-firm tofu drained and pressed (or tempeh if you have)
1/2 cup wine (I used a chardonnay - they say use whatever you have)
1/4 cup hot sauce
2 T olive oil
2 T Bragg's or soy sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used 2 T ginger-garlic paste instead)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano (used 1 heaping teaspoon)
1/8 tsp cayenne (they swear by this, and I thought through nostrils burning, that it was a crazy recommendation, but now I'm blogging this so there)

Directions:
1. Drain and press tofu
2. Meanwhile, mix together wine through cayenne in a large mixing bowl.
3. Cube tofu in 1" cubes and put in the mixing bowl with the marinade.
4. Set oven to broil.
5. Get a ceramic or glass oven proof casserole pan and lightly coat with cooking spray.
6. Turn tofu and marinade into casserole pan and place in oven.
7. Check tofu and marinade, turning every 5-10 minutes. This should take about 20 minutes. Check often to prevent burning. It is done when the tofu is nice and chewy with a small remainder of the marinade in the pan. It will reduce and thicken into a wonderful sauce.

Serve over rice, a salad, as a main course. I served with fresh corn on the cob (coated with lime, cumin and salt) and some stir-fried peppers, summer squash and basil.

Cheers!

Tandoori Tempeh Veggies

A Tandoor is basically a huge clay oven that can reach temperatures >600 F. I do not have a tandoor - but I have always loved the spices utilized in the foods that go in the tandoor. I suppose you could grill or broil as an acceptable substitute. This is my take on some tandoori vegetables (because you've probably noticed the lack of fish, fowl, and other land animals that I inevitably do not cook here on khavanu).

Half of my kitchen space is taken up by spices, so if you don't have some or all, just substitute what you do have. I often rely on the smell of foods to season or salt. I think spices are for the most part something that every kitchen should have (i say this b/c well spices are a great investment in your cooking future).

(from the red clockwise: red chili powder, black mustard seeds, ajwan seeds, channa dhal or split yellow peas, cumin seeds, udad dhal and fenugreek seed mixture, and turmeric)

(From top to bottom, left to right: kosher salt, Sriracha sauce, coriander, garam masala, cumin, paprika, cinnamon)

I think you could use any combination of vegetables that you have on hand. To increase the protein in this dish, I also used tempeh which holds up well to marinating. Extra-firm tofu would work well. If you were using meat, I would marinate separately. Serve with some cumin pilaf or raitu (recipes below).


Tandoori marinade:
1-1/2 cups yogurt
1 tsp salt
2 T paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T coriander, ground
1-2 T ground cumin
2 T ginger, minced fine
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 scallions, chopped fine
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 T sriracha sauce
1 T sugar
1-2 T garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
(adjust seasonings more or less to taste)

1. Place yogurt in a small mixing bowl and stir in seasonings. Set aside.



Tempeh and Veggies:
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2" coins
1 package cremini mushrooms, wiped clean, stems removed and cut in half
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 package tempeh, cubed into 1" dice

1. Place cut up veggies and tempeh in a large mixing bowl, and stir in the marinade, coating well. Adjust for taste and seasoning. Cover bowl and set in fridge until ready to use. I would recommend marinating atleast 1 hour, but what the heck, if you can't wait...
2. Heat oven to 400 F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil and coat with non-stick spray. Cook 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.
3. While preheating or baking, you could prepare some raitu (a yogurt sauce like a chutney) and some cumin rice (jeera pulao)



Raitu:
1/2 - 1 cup yogurt
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp cumin or chat masala
1/4 tsp paprika
2-3 T shredded cucumber or carrot (or mixture of both)
1. Mix all together well, and set aside. This is like the ubiquitous yogurt "sauce" that gets served at Indian restaurants to offset the heat of foods.

Cumin rice:
1 T olive oil or butter
1 cup basmati rice, rinsed and drained
2 - 2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 of 1 cinnamon stick

1. Heat olive oil in a wide shallow pan. Place cumin seeds and cook until they are aromatic.
2. Add in rice and wait until the sizzling goes away. Add in 2 cups water, and if needed add in extra water if the water level looks low. Sorry I've never learned how to cook rice by directions it has always been a look at the water deal. i said sorry.
3. Stir in bay leaf, cinnamon stick and some salt and pepper to taste
4. Cook uncovered, 15 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir twice in 15 minutes. Once the rice begins to look porous and most of the water is gone, cover rice, switch to low heat, and leave there 5-10 minutes

Serve tandoori vegetables alongside some cumin rice and raitu. Skewering these would make them look even more awesome.

Egg Noodles "Scampi"

I love the flavor combinations of parsley, lemon and garlic. Here is a vegetarianized version that could be a one dish meal.

2 cups egg noodles, cooked according to package directions
4 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup tempeh, cubed
1 cup zucchini, sliced
1/2 cup peas, frozen
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsely, chopped
1/2 lemon or 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

1. Cook egg noodles according to package directions and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in wide skillet over medium high heat, once hot, add in garlic until fragrant.
3. Add tempeh, continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add zucchini and peas.
5. Cook 5-8 more minutes, or until soft and bright green.
6. Turn off heat, top with parsley and lemon juice, and add in egg noodles.
7. Toss well and serve.

You could also use butter instead of olive oil and add in white wine to thicken the sauce a bit. I think this took about 20-30 minutes.