Vegetable Potstickers and Oriental Cabbage Salad

Cabbage, carrot, and bok choy from CSA box
Also, I made kung pao chicken with some leftover bottled kung pao sauce... cheated there, but used up something in my kitchen. Also, added in the rest of the bunch of green onions used for other recipes, and a green pepper that needed to be eaten soon.

Verdict: ****

Comments: My 1 year old only liked the potsticker wrapper. The rest of us ate it all with grins. The kung pao was just spicy enough for my oldest to complain but he still ate it.... bottled sauce, though, so maybe next time I will opt for making it from scratch or make him suck it up again? The vegetable potstickers were kinda bland, so I might add in a bit more flavor -- perhaps some hoisin sauce, or more soy sauce, or maybe some spices???


Vegetable Potstickers

1 package firm tofu
1 large carrot, shredded
1 cup finely shredded baby bok choy
1/4 c finely chopped water chestnuts
1/4 c finely chopped bamboo shoots
1/4 c finely sliced green onions
2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 package potsticker or gyoza wrappers
2 Tbsp oil for frying dumplings

Directions:
Drain tofu, cut into cubes and mash. Wash and prepare veggies. Combine tofu and the remainder of ingredients. Lay out a wrapper in front of you and moisten edges with water. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in middle of wrapper. Fold wrapper over filling and pinch edeges to seal. (I highly recommend the "heaping" as the ingredients cooked down and left a lot of noodle with little filling)

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in large skillet or wok. When ready, carefully add dumplings and cook on high heat until golden brown (approx 1 min). Without turning dumplings over, add 1/2 cup of water and cover. Cook for about 1 minute to cook the raw filling, then uncover and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Oriental Cabbage Salad

1 package of chicken flavor ramen noodles
1/2 head of shredded cabbage
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
2 Tbsp sesame seeds

Dressing:
3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Directions:
Crush noodles slightly and place in colander. Pour boiling water over noodles to soften slightly. Drain well. In a large bowl, combine noodles, cabbage, onions and sesame seeds. For dressing, combine seasoning packet from noodles, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Pour over salad and toss. Cover and chill for several hours or overnights. Before serving, stir in almonds.