Vegetarian Wonton Soup (Soup, Filling, & Wrappers)

I invited friends over for dinner and needed some cooking inspiration. Browsing through "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian", I came across a section on dumplings. Perfect! I've never made dumplings before but have always wanted too. My dinner guests would be my guinea pigs.

I first found a recipe for wontons. It was followed by a short paragraph on wonton soup. It's actually just vegetable stock and a little bok choy. Since I was making both the wontons and the soup, I decided to check out the wrapper recipe. Turns out it's just as simple as the other two. It took me about 2 hours to make everything, but if you don't have enough time, or aren't interested, you can use store-bought wrappers and stock to make this soup in less than 30 minutes.

I used the recipes for "One-hour Vegetable Stock", "Tofu-Stuffed Wontons", and "Dumpling Wrappers". This makes about 6 servings, and 25 dumplings. This is the order I made everything in, but if you want the dough to rest for the maximum time (2 hrs), make the wrappers first.

Ingredients for the Soup
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, quartered & unpeeled
1 potato, sliced
1 celery stalk, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, whole & unpeeled
5-10 white mushrooms, sliced
10-20 parsley stems
2 T soy sauce
salt & pepper, to taste
6 c water
*3 stalks bok choy, sliced, + 2 more to serve with the soup
*1 bay leaf
*1 T whole peppercorns

*My own additions to the recipe

As I added a few ingredients, I encourage you to add whatever vegetables you like. The more you stuff into the pot, the tastier the soup will be! Add olive oil to a large pot and heat on M. Toss in everything except the parsley, soy sauce, and spices. Let brown ~5 minutes, turning only a couple times. If you have more time, cook until all the vegetables are browned.

Add the parsley, water, soy sauce, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for at least 30 minutes. Let cook longer if you have time. The vegetables should be tender.

Strain the soup and add more salt, pepper, and soy sauce if desired.

Ingredients for the Filling:
*12 oz silken tofu
1/2 c shopped fresh chives or scallion
1 T peeled minced or grated ginger
1 t dark sesame oil
salt and pepper, to taste

 *this can be substituted for any meat, cooked and cut into small pieces

Drain the silken tofu. Place in a food processor and blend until smooth. (Do the same for meat, but pulse the processor). Stir in the chives, oil, ginger, and salt and pepper. Set aside.

Filling, before mixing

*Ingredients for the Wrappers:
2 c flour, white or whole-wheat
1/2 c cold water
1 t salt

*The book says this recipe make enough wrappers for two servings of dumplings, but I only had 3 extra wrappers after using all the filling. I suggest either making the whole thing, or making half and mixing more later if you need it.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Make a well and add the water, whisking together gradually until combined. The dough should be dry but tacky.

Place the dough on a floured board and knead ~5 minutes, until springy. Add more flour as needed while kneading. Transfer to a bowl, oil, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit 20 minutes-2 hours.

Cut into quarters. Take each quarter and roll into a 8'' snake. Cut into 1'' pieces, and roll each piece out into a 4'' square or circle shape. If you want these to be perfect, cut with a glass or knife.

Flour well and stack. If not using all the wrappers, wrap with plastic and refrigerate.

Fill each will 1 T filling, brush the edges with water, and seal with a fork. (You can seal just by pressing your fingers, but I was worried about the filling leaking when I boiled them). Layer on wax paper. If not using immediately, refrigerate the extras.

Bring a pot of water to boil with a little salt. Have the soup heating on the side with the remaining bok choy. Boil the dumplings ~5 minutes ( you will be able to tell when they are soft). Drain and serve immediately with soup.

Mixing the dough

Before kneading

After kneading

Filling the dumplings

Bruschetta

Bruschetta is such a great summer dish. I love making it with homegrown tomatoes and basil. This past week I was visiting a friend and we made dinner at home, starting with bruschetta as an appetizer. He was impressed with how easy it was to make, and I'm happy to finally share the recipe online here.

This takes about 10 minutes to prep, and can easily be altered to make more or less.

Ingredients:

4 slices of fresh bread, preferably something with a nice crust

1/2 c tomatoes, diced

2 sprigs fresh basil, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 T olive oil

salt, to taste

Chop garlic, tomatoes, and basil and mix in a bowl. Add salt to taste. Let sit at least 30 minutes, until all the flavors are blended. Slice the bread, top with spoonfuls of tomatoes, and toast in a toaster oven or roast in the oven, until the bread is browned and crunchy. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Curried Vegetable Pie

Curry pie is a standard vegetarian savory pie found in New Zealand, Australia, and countries with similar cuisines. I've lost track of how many times I've had one, and am always excited by the pie's wonderful aroma and spice.

Today I finally decided to make this on my own, and found that it's actually pretty easy! 

I made this over two days, but it can be made in a little over an hour if you use a pre-made pie crust. Make your own crust in an additional 10-20 mins. I would say the biggest roadblock to successfully completing this recipe is securing the ingredients. I did not have everything but was able to make substitutions and everything turned out okay.

I researched several recipes online and combined bits and pieces to get this version. I borrowed heavily from this BBC recipe.

Ingredients for the Filling:

1 T sunflower oil

2 stalks celery (or 1 small onion) finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

*1 green chili, seeds removed & chopped

1 T garam masala

1 t ground tumeric

1 t ground cumin

1/2 c water

3 T chopped fresh coriander or 1 T dried ground coriander

2 carrots, large dice

1 parsnip, large dice

2 medium red potatoes, cut into chunks

1/2 c frozen peas

2 T butter

3 T flour

4 T Greek yogurt

*I did not have a green chili, so I substituted in some dried hot peppers.

For the crust:

Premade, purchased at the grocery

OR

1 batch of my pie crust

Ready to bake

First, make the filling. Boil the potatoes in a pot until they are "al dente". In a large saucepan, heat the oil, then add celery (onion), garlic, chili, masala, cumin, tumeric, and cook ~3 minutes, until onions are clear. Add water plus the potatoes, carrots, and parsnips. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 3 minutes. Add frozen peas at the very end and mix. 

Remove from heat and strain, saving the liquid.

In a small saucepan melt the butter, add the vegetable liquid, and flour. Stir until mixed through, and remove from heat. Add coriander and yogurt.

Combine the sauce with the vegetables and stir to coat. This is the filing.

Preheat the oven to 400 F or 200 C.

Make the pie crust, or remove crust from fridge and line a pie dish. These pies are usually made in small, single servings, but if you don't have these use a regular-size pie dish. I opted to use a smaller casserole dish, since it is deeper. Fill the pie, then add a second layer of pastry on top. Seal the edges (either with a fork or your fingers), and slice a few holes in the tope of the pastry.

Bake 30-45 minutes, until the crust is browned and the inside is warmed through. Serve immediately.

Result: I liked it and it had that exact curry flavor I was craving. Though the spice was lacking, both hotness and flavor intensity. Next time I'll be doubling all the seasonings and adding more hot peppers :)

Kale Salad with Avocado, Lime, and Toasted Pecorino Chips

A friend and I made dinner together this week. We had no preferences or plans, except it had to be vegetarian, so we decided to go to the farmers market for inspiration and ingredients. Well, the farmer's market turned out to be a bust, and we only bought a bunch of Kale. My friend came up with a great idea for kale salad and I made stir fried veggies over rice.

I've never made kale salad before, but this was so tasty--especially with lime--that I'll be making it regularly. I have to give credit to my friend for this one, as she came up with the idea and made the salad.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh kale, chopped
1 avocado
1 handful of grape tomatoes
1 carrot, shredded
Shavings of pecorino (or other comparably strong) cheese
1/2 fresh lime
*salt and pepper

*optional

Wash all veggies. Turn on the oven--any temp will work. Shave the cheese (about 12 pieces) onto a baking sheet, and place in the oven. Let melt and crisp, about 3-5 minutes, then remove and let cool. Remove stems from the kale and cut leaves into small strips, chopping so they are small enough to eat. Halve the tomatoes and avocado, remove the pit, then slice into small chunks. Place everything into a salad bowl and add shredded carrot. Drizzle fresh lime over top and mix to coat. If using salt and pepper, add as desired.

The cheese should be toasted but cooled enough to handle. Break into pieces and toss over top of the salad and seve.

I was really content with this salad, and ate at least two servings. I don't often eat raw kale, and I've never made a salad with just lime dressing, but the combination was perfect.