Pot Stickers with Spicy Dipping Sauce

Pot Stickers (called gyoza in Japanese) have to be one of the most fun foods to eat. Ever. You know who would agree with us? The entire country of America. These pot stickers are not only fun to eat but fun to assemble and cook as well. It takes a little bit of practice to get the gyoza or wonton wrappers sealed properly so don't get discouraged if your first several(or twenty in my case) look like crap. Serve these as appetizers or do as Thomas and I do and just eat twelve a piece for dinner (and feel like a balloon afterward). These pot stickers are delicious served with the spicy dipping sauce. The recipe for the pot stickers came from Vegan Planet and the dipping sauce is from Tyler's Ultimate on Food Network.



Pot Stickers
1 cup napa cabbage, minced
1 cup extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1/4 cup carrot, shredded
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot
Salt and pepper to taste
24 gyoza or wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen
2 Tbs peanut oil
1 Tbs tamari or soy sauce
1 cup water

In a food processor, combine the cabbage, tofu, carrots, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Place one gyoza wrapper on a work surface and spoon about 1 Tbs of the filling mix into the middle of the wrapper. Dip your finger into some water and then run it across one edge of the wrapper making that edge wet. Fold the wrapper over the filling and seal the two edges together to form a semicircle (if using round wrappers) or a triangle (if using square wrappers). Crimp the edge of the wrapper in three places to keep it sealed and to make it look like a traditional pot sticker (Frankly, a pot sticker is not a pot sticker without the crimp!) Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

NOTE: You might want to assemble and cook one batch of the pot stickers before assembling and cooking the second because if the pot stickers are left too long on the counter before cooking the filling will soak through the wrapper and you will have to re-wrap them!

Heat 1 Tbs of the peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Place half the pot stickers in the pan and cook about 4 to 5 minutes. Don't over crowd them.

Pour in half the tamari and half of the water. Cover, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for another 5-6 minutes, lifting the lid off occasionally to let some of the steam out. Uncover and cook till the water evaporates, about another 3-4 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of pot stickers. Keep the first batch warm in the oven on the lowest heat setting or cover with foil. Serve hot!

Makes 24 pot stickers.



Spicy Dipping Sauce
3 Tbs tamari or soy sauce
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbs chili-garlic sauce
2 tsp hot chili oil

Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Serve in little dipping bowls, one for each person.

Raw Onion Bread

There are many advantages to eating raw food (food that hasn't been heated above approx. 105 degrees F). It is thought that cooking food at high temperatures depletes that food of many of its nutrients therefore making raw food the epitome of healthy eating. While Thomas and I don't follow a strictly raw diet, we do like to incorporate some raw food into our diet for its nutritional benefits and because it simply tastes good :) This raw onion bread is made in a dehydrator--an essential tool in raw foodism. We tried to make it in the oven once and while it still tasted good, the texture just wasn't right. We would place this onion "bread" in more of a cracker category and it works great as a crust for mini pizzas, buns for a burger, bread for a sandwich or just eaten by itself! We got this recipe from one of our local raw restaurants, Euphoria. Be prepared, this onion bread takes 36 HOURS to dehydrate. Plan accordingly!


Onion bread batter ready to start being dehydrated

Raw Onion Bread
3 large yellow onions
3/4 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 cup ground sunflower seeds, raw, shelled and unsalted
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup nama shoyu (or tamari if you don't care about being strictly raw)

Peel and halve the onions and coarsely chop them in a food processor or by hand. Place the onions in a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Spread a thin layer of the batter on several teflex or "fruit roll" sheets of the dehydrator.

Dehydrate at 100 degrees for 24 hours. After the 24 hours have gone, flip the onion bread off the fruit roll sheet and directly onto the trays of the dehydrator. Dehydrate for 12 more hours. Cut into large squares or triangles when done and store in the fridge!


Completed onion bread :)


Use onion bread as a yummy replacement for the buns when you have burgers! (We'll post our grain burger recipe soon!)

Cranberry Chocolate Granola Squares

These granola squares are great to have in the morning or as a snack. The soymilk in them keeps the squares nice and moist which we like. Some granola is so dry and hard it's like we're feeding ourselves a form of tooth-cracking chicken feed. Not pleasant. Enjoy these chicken-feed-less granola squares stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. We got this recipe from Robin Robinson's 1,000 Vegan Recipes.



Cranberry Chocolate Granola Squares
1 cup shelled sunflower seeds, unsalted
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup carob chips (semi-sweet chocolate works too)
3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1 cup plain soymilk
2 Tbs butter, melted (we use Earth Balance)
2 Tbs agave or maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil an 8" square pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the sunflower seeds, oats, chocolate chips, cranberries and coconut.

In a small bowl, combine the soymilk, butter, and agave or maple syrup. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and mix together well. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake until it is lightly browned around the edges, about 25 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares.

Makes about 16 small squares.

Potato Coconut Curry

We love curries and this is one of the easiest and most yummy we've had! The coconut milk gives it nice creamy texture and flavor. We added tempeh to this dish to boost up the protein content. Served over brown rice or with flat bread, this is a very filling meal! Feel free to mess around with the recipe! It is very conducive to throwing whatever ingredients you want into it and it will most likely still taste good :)This curry is pretty spicy so if you want it more mild don't add in as much cayenne pepper.



Potato Coconut Curry
3-4 potatoes, cubed
2 Tbs coconut or canola oil
1 yellow onion, diced
4 scallions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp curry powder
4 tsp garam masala
1 (1-inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 tsp salt
1 (8oz) package tempeh, cubed (optional)
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed*
2 cups frozen peas
1 (14oz) can coconut milk

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover them with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Drain.

Heat the oil in a skillet and stir in the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes. Season with cumin, cayenne, curry, garam masala, ginger and salt. Add in the tempeh and cook for another couple of minutes. Add in the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, peas, and potatoes. Mix well. Stir in the coconut milk. Let the ingredients simmer for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve over steamed brown rice or with flat bread!

Serves 5-6.



*Rinsing canned beans under cold water removes approx 40% of the sodium that's in them. It's a good habit to form if you're going to eat canned beans :)

Basic Seitan

Seitan (say-tahn) is commonly called "wheat meat" and is used as a meat substitute in any dish meat would normally take part in. It is popular in Asian cooking. It is made from wheat gluten and is pretty much pure protein. Around 18g of protein is in each serving of seitan. In traditional seitan, wheat flour is washed in water and kneaded three times over two days in order to get out the starch and make wheat gluten. In this recipe, the process is sped up by starting with store bought wheat gluten that you can find in pretty much all supermarkets in the same isle as the flour.

Like tofu, seitan soaks up flavors like a sponge and you can season and marinate it however you wish. The texture of seitan is very much like meat and it is extremely healthy for you. This is a meat substitute that does not contain chemicals, preservatives or anything else that does not fit under the title of healthynoms!

This was our first time making our own seitan so we followed a recipe from the cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance. Now that we know how to do the basics we'll be experimenting with our own recipes so watch for them in the future! This recipe is really yummy though so try it!


Pictured above is the raw seitan dough. It is very elastic and must be cooked before being eaten.


Thomas being goofy while making the dough :)

Basic Seitan
2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbs whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup veggie broth
1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Broth
12 cups water or veggie broth (you can do half and half too)
1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce

In a large bowl, mix together the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, and flour. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients together through the lemon zest. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes till it is spongy and elastic. Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes.

Put together the ingredients for the both in a large pot (don't turn the heat on yet).

Roll the dough into a log shape about 10 inches long. Cut it into six equal pieces and place them in the broth (the broth should be cold when the seitan is put in it in order to have a firmer textured seitan and to ensure it doesn't fall apart). Partially cover the pot (leaving a space for steam to escape) and bring the broth to a boil. When the broth is boiling, set the heat to low and simmer for an hour, turning the pieces occasionally.

Turn off the heat and let the broth cool completely before removing the seitan. Once it has cooled, you may eat the seitan right away or store it. If you want to store it in the fridge, place it in a covered dish and cover with broth. It will last for about a week. If you want to freeze it, wrap each piece individually with plastic wrap and then place the pieces in a ziplock. They will keep for a couple of months.

Use seitan sliced on sandwiches, crumbled in pasta, as a burger element, in stir-fries, tacos, burritos, on pizza, etc... We will have recipes following this one with some exact recipes!

Makes about 6 cups.


Cooked seitan ready to be eaten!


Spaghetti with seitan marinara sauce :)

Ginger Cabbage Sushi Rolls

Here in Santa Monica we have farmers markets every Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday. This means we always have fresh local veggies on hand to eat. Today we decided to make sushi with some fresh cabbage, leeks and carrots that we picked up at the market. This was our first go at sushi, but our recipe turned out pretty good. The hardest part for me at first was getting the rolling technique right. Lets just say there were some vast improvements over the course of a few rolls.


Ginger Cabbage Roll (makes 1 roll)
1 medium/small carrot cut into thin spears.
1 handful of cabbage cut into thin long strips.
1/2 cup chopped leek.
1 1/2 cups cooked rice.
1 Sheet of Nori (seaweed)

Ginger Sauce
2 Tbs Vegenaise (Or whatever mayo you choose).
2 tsp Ground Ginger
2 tsp Dried Parsley

Mix up the ginger sauce in a small bowel and set aside.
Lay your nori down on the rolling mat and spread the rice out evenly over the surface. Make sure to cover the nori evenly using all of the rice. Take your ginger sauce and spread it in a line across the center of the rice. Next lay down your carrot spears, leaks, and cabbage ontop of the ginger sauce. Roll lightly holding the veggies and nori tight to itself until the mat reaches the rice. Make sure at this point, using your fingers, that the roll is tight. Then complete the roll while squeezing the mat to ensure a tight roll.