Chicken Pot Stickers… Again

Tags

appetizer, chicken, chicken dumplings, chicken pot stickers, Chinese, Chinese dumplings, Chinese food, Chinese New Year, food, foodie, frugal foodie, leftover ideas, leftover meals, leftovers, postaday2011, pot stickers, recipe, side dishes

When its Chinese New Year, my small town grocery store carries wonton wrappers and a few other specialty items they don’t normally stock. I took advantage and bought a few packages to stick in the freezer for later use.

Chicken Pot Stickers 2

If I have the wrappers, I make chicken pot stickers when I have some leftover chicken, cabbage & peppers… etc… I used the same chicken pot sticker recipe I did before. Swapping out the red bell pepper for orange bell pepper. I normally steam them, but this time I tried a different technique suggested by a friend. I warmed a bit of oil in a frying pan over medium heat (I used sesame oil). Then I added the dumplings to the pan enough to lightly brown the bottom. I added warm water and cooked covered for about 5 minutes.

When I was finished I drizzled with soy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds and crushed red pepper flakes. Yum!

These are great as a side dish, appetizer, and… sometimes I sit down with a bowl full of them as a meal.

Is there a side dish or appetizer you sometimes indulge in as a meal?

Advertisement

Chicken & Broccoli

Tags

broccoli, chicken, chicken breast, Chinese, Chinese New Year, dinner, food, foodie, New Year, postaday2011, recipe, side dishes, stir fry

Chinese New Year Continues…

Start with steamed dumplings, then move to this dish followed by Radicchio & Edamame Salad and finish off with homemade fortune cookies.

Chicken & Broccoli

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts, 1/2 a head of broccoli, 1/2 c. shredded carrots, 1/4 c. soy sauce, 1/8 c. rice vinegar,  2 Tbsp. minced onions, 1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic, 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, 1/4 tsp. fresh ginger

Directions:
Cut broccoli into florets. Bring pot of water to boil and lightly steam broccoli, set aside. Thinly cut chicken into small pieces. Heat soy sauce in wok and sauté onions and garlic. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink inside. Add oil, vinegar, and ginger and simmer. Toss broccoli and carrots into chicken and coat with sauce. Serve hot.

*Garnish with sesame seeds and serve over lo-mein noodles or steamed rice.

I use this same recipe to make Beef & Broccoli for Hubster, I just didn’t want to make two separate meals last night. I also steam my broccoli longer because I like it to be a bit on the mushy side, but most people don’t like it like that.

What are your weekend plans?

Radicchio & Edamame Salad

Tags

Chinese, Chinese food, Chinese New Year, edamame, food, foodie, postaday2011, radicchio, recipe, salad, side, side dishes, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian

Move over Valentine’s Day, you’re not the only reason we’re dressed in and decorating with red this month. Starting on February 3rd and going through the first full moon of the (Chinese) New Year on the 18th. This was just the kickoff to our Chinese New Year Celebration… I don’t think I can fill my next two weeks with that many Chinese inspired crafts and recipes… but let’s see how far we get.

Radicchio & Edamame Salad

Ingredients:
1 head of radicchio, 1 lb. edamame, 2 Tbsp. water, 1 Tbsp. white rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, 1 tsp. lemon zest, coarsely ground sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:
Shred radicchio, add to mixing bowl and set aside. Add edamame, water and salt to saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer over medium heat for a few minutes. Remove pan from heat, and allow to cool slightly. Remove beans from pods and add to radicchio. Add vinegar, oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper, gently mix together. Serve hot or chilled.

This was such a delicious salad, nutty and tasty, crunchy and full of texture. Mmm…

How do you celebrate Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year

Tags

appetizers, cheese wonton, chicken stir fry, Chinese food, Chinese New Year, ethnic cooking, ethnic cuisine, Ethnic Food, fortune cookie, hot tea, main dish, recipe, shrimp rolls, spring rolls, steamed rice, stir fry

This year, Chinese New Year falls on Valentine’s Day. Enter the year of the tiger. Dressed in red, a bowl of tangerines in hand, and chopsticks next to the place setting our festivities were just beginning.

On the Eve of Chinese New Year, while Hubster took a nap, Pumpkin and I set up the festivities and prepared the food. My bamboo was intended for our centerpiece, but then I decided to proudly display the flower my Pumpkin bought me. On the menu? Cheese wontons, spring rolls, stir fry, steamed rice, hot white tea and pomegranate juice. We nibbled on chinese noodles with duck sauce and wasabi rice crackers while prepping the meal.

We planned to use my fortune cookie recipe and add sweet messages to show Hubster/Dad how much he means to me, but time was a little short. The store was of mung beans, Bok choy and snow peas, but our feast turned out just as nice. I cannot believe how much my 8y.o. actually did, I love having a sous-chef!

Cheese Wontons
Pumpkin lined my mini muffin pans with mini wonton wrappers. Then mixed together cream cheese with chopped green onions. He spooned the mixture into the muffin cups and folded the wrapper over. All I did was talk him through it and bake the wontons at 350°F for 20 minutes.

Cheese Wontons

Spring Rolls
I prepped the veggies, pumpkin rolled them and I fried them! We stuffed the spring roll wrappers with shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, shredded celery and alfalfa sprouts (they were out of mung beans). He whisked a few eggs and drizzled over the veggies, and rolled the wrappers and sealed shut with the egg. I fried them vegetable oil until they were golden brown.

Spring Rolls

Chicken Stir Fry/ Fried Rice
I poured the remaining egg mixture into my sauté pan to cook. I then removed the egg from the hot pan. I cooked thin chunks (I didn’t have the time to cut thin slices) chicken breast in the pan with stir fry sauce until done. I added baby corn, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, the remaining cabbage, carrots, celery and alfalfa sprouts to the sauté pan. I tossed the cooked egg back into the pan and sprinkled with sesame seeds and fresh grated ginger. Pumpkin decided he wanted the steamed brown rice thrown in with the stir fry, so it turned out somewhere between stir fry and fried rice.

Stir Fry/ Fried Rice

Although we didn’t have a festival of lanterns, the dragon or fireworks, our festivities brought good luck and fortune into our home.

Chinese New Year