Pork Dumplings

Ok, I know I've been AWOL for a while on this blog. But with selling the house, moving into the apartment, building a house, moving again, and getting pregnant, life totes got busy. This of course meant that I really had no time to focus on blogging about my cooking...sad.

But luckily, things are finally starting to get a little into order which sucks because my little one will be here in November and that means I probably will be low on time again. Oh, my life. OK, I love it so I can't really complain. Plus, I've been focusing so much on my pregnancy that I've been blogging about that and keeping a pregnancy journal essentially. Check it out when you get a chance! http://thesenguptabunch.blogspot.com/

Now, thanks to growing a human, I have these awesome cravings. This week my baby girl seems to be wanting more of the asian flavor. I get it. I love all types of asian food so I know this is totally my kiddo. Not sure why, but dumplings sounded amazing the other day and since then, I've had tunnel vision about it...hence my need for making these cuz let's face it..the ones at the restaurant just aren't as good, and they give you like three. What's that about? Can't they see I'm preggo???!!! HA. Well luckily this recipe made about 36 dumplings meaning I will be fully satisfied! =)

Ingredients:
1 lb of ground pork
2 sprigs of scallions
3/4 of a medium red onion, diced
1 egg
Salt, pepper, soy sauce, sriracha, & oyster sauce to taste
1 package of wonton wrappers (the square kind)

Directions:
So I diced my onions first so that I could saute them a bit to soften them up. Always tastes better in my opinion. Not browned..just softened.

Slice up the scallions while those onions are softening...

Now, mix together the ground pork, scallions, softened onions, egg, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sriracha, salt, & pepper. 

Now that you've got everything melded together, spoon about a tablespoon onto the thin wonton wrappers. I don't have any pictures from this step..but here are the wrappers I use. Here is the video I used to make these lil' dumplings...

Yes, this can be a tedious and repetitive process but they come out so cute! I had a good re-run of a friends episode running while I crafted these up. 

Then, you can cook them right away or later. I was going to make these for dinner so I just covered it with some foil and stuck it in the fridge til' it came time to cook these lil' guys up. 

Once you're ready, you have a couple of options on how you want to cook these. You can boil them in just regular old water or chicken stock for a good soup base. I knew that today I was going to want them a lil' fried so I wanted to boil them first in just some water. When you first put them in, they will all sink to the bottom of the pot. Everyone into the hot tub!!

Once they are done, they will rise to the top.

Now you can eat them just like this (boiled) which is great in soups. 

Or give them a toss in the frying pan so they get that nice crispy skin! MMMMM...

AND THEN..........EAT EAT EAT!!!! I normally eat them with some sriracha and soy sauce! And you'll be shocked how filling these are...I ate about 5 and I was stuffed! =)

How do you like your dumplings? =)

Caramelized Brussel Sprouts with Walnuts

I feel like one of the best vegetables to eat that is in season right now are brussel sprouts. They have such a bad rep and people really should give them a second chance! They are WONDERFUL! So I thought, how can I take the last few sprouts I have in my fridge and turn it into a side for dinner tonight..and this is what emerged! DELICIOUSNESS! These take a mere 15 minutes to make and can add to any meal or pretty much stand alone on it self. So, give these hated veggies another chance and you'll see, you've been missing out on something truly amazing! 

Ingredients:

6-7 brussel sprouts, very thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

palmful of walnuts, toasted

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

1 tsp of paprika

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Scroll down to the bottom for quick directions.

Start with toasting your walnuts. I just threw them in a skillet on the stove for a few minutes. Set aside once they're done! You won't need these guys til' the very end...

Now let's get to work on the lovely sprouts..Slice them as thin as you possibly can...

Next, slice the garlic thinly..

Heat the vegetable oil in a non stick skillet on medium-high heat and saute the garlic until slightly browned. Make sure to watch closely so they don't get burnt...

Next, add the brussel sprouts and give it a good toss to make sure all of it is coated in the oil.. Add in the salt, pepper, and the paprika. Saute for about 10 minutes..

Right before you're about to take it off the stove, stir in your reserved toasted walnuts! Serve immediately! 

Serve this up as a healthy side! I normally serve this on the side of salmon or some sort of protein! Tastes amazing and pretty much compliments anything you've got on your plate!

Recipe card:

Chili Paneer

One of my favorite Indian dishes is Chili Paneer...It's delicious and has a spicy kick that is just wonderful! I love it when I eat it out and it has a Indo-Chinese kick to it..Anyhow, going out all the time and eating it out is not an option considering that I don't have a lot of Indo-Chinese restaurants around me, which totally sucks by the way. Well having this problem prompted me to come up with my own version which luckily turned out fantastic! Simple to make and packs a flavorful punch..what more could I ask for?!

Ingredients:

1 block of paneer (Indian cottage cheese), cubed - you'll find this in Indian stores in the refrigerated section

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/3 red onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 tbsp cornstarch

3 tbsp of water

2 tbsp of vegetable oil, divided

1 tsp of red chili powder

Pinch of cumin seeds 

2 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Scroll down to the bottom for quick directions.

Start by chopping up the onions. You can see I haven't diced them too small..

Slice up your garlic...

Now chop up the green and red bell peppers. I wanted to make sure these were the same size as the onions as I chopped up...

I cut the paneer into cubes...

Now take the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and mix it with 3 tablespoons of water. Add in salt, pepper, and red chili powder. 

Coat the paneer cubes with the marinade...

Heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high heat and and drop in the cubes of paneer..

They'll slowly start to brown and will start looking like the picture below..take these and put them on a paper towel to soak up any remaining oil. 

Now, in the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil on medium-high heat, and drop in a pinch of cumin seeds..

TIP: To make this spicier, I would slice a serrano pepper and fry it with the cumin seeds.

Fry them for about 2 minutes and drop in the onions & garlic, and saute for about a minute...you want all the vegetables to have somewhat of a crunch and not be too soggy..

Now add the bell peppers and saute all the vegetables for about 4 - 5 minutes. 

Now, add in the cubes of paneer and toss together. Add the soy sauce and make sure all is mixed well...

And, that's it! Dinner is ready! Serve it with Indian tortillas (Rotis) or some rice! I can eat this by itself if I'm trying to avoid carbs and it tastes fantastic by itself!

Hope you love it as much as I did! 

Recipe Card:

Baked Egg White Muffins

Ever feel like you don't have a good breakfast to go? Cuz I feel like that all the time! You're running out the door and you grab some coffee and a banana...UM, that is not gonna be filling until lunch time!! Anyhow, I needed something that was satisfying, healthy, and quick to grab and go...not the easiest task to execute...but I stumbled upon this and knew I had to re-create! Make these Sunday night, and they shall last you all week!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of baby spinach, chopped up
1/2 red bell pepper. diced (you can probably use any color but I had red on hand, mainly because they are my fave!)
1/4 red onion, diced
Egg whites - I bought a 32oz carton but didn't use the whole thing...probably used about 3/4 of it
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tbsp Garlic powder
Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Start by chopping up your veggies...

I don't have a picture of diced onions but my guess is you know what they look like! Start by getting these into the muffin pan evenly..I used a Mini 24 muffin pan.

Now you want to pour in the egg whites slowly filling each one..

Once you've got those pretty much filled (don't worry, they don't overflow), you want to sprinkle in the seasonings...

Pop these into the oven for 25-30 minutes, and VOILA!!! Breakfast to go! Or pack them for a quick snack!

I like to get these into the small snack size baggies so that they're a quick grab from the fridge for me and the hubs before we head out! I also like to use them as a quick snack post workout! 

Hope they solve your breakfast problems, like they did for us! They last about a week in the fridge so you're set until the following Sunday! Not a bad deal right? =)

Recipe card: