Christmas Vacation Steamed Veggie Dumplings!

Let's have steamed veggie dumplings for dinner!  Yeah, ok, sounds good, I said.  On my way to the market to shop for these 'steamed veggie dumplings', I was regretting my often overly accommodating nature.  But onward to the good ol' Stop and Shop I went in search of won ton wrappers, sure that I should at least be making this part by hand.  THANK GOD I settled on store bought wontons!!  

For the veggies inside;


dice very small;
2 Tbs ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 cups Napa Cabbage
1/2 red pepper
handful water chestnuts
4 baby corns from a can
shredded carrots, about 2
shredded celery, about 2 stalks
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 bunch scallions
1/2 block firm tofu


in sesame or olive oil,
saute the ginger and garlic but do not brown
add cabbage and all other veggies 
cook until tasty (about 8-10 minutes)


1 package WONTON's from the cold case in the produce section at Stop and Shop


Smear a little water around the edges of the wrappers, dollop on about a teaspoon of your yummy veggie mixture and seal wrapper like a little package.  


You need a steamer for this part.  I have a bamboo one which I lined with some of the outer leaves from the Napa cabbage.  Make a layer of your veggies dumplings and steam for 10 minutes.


Now make the sauce;


1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbs rice vinegar
splash of roasted sesame oil
little spoonful of shredded ginger


When the dumplings are done, you will love them dunked in this little sauce.  We cruised through about 30 of these little numbers.  Eat while hot and enjoy.  


If we were in New York right now we would have ordered them from our Chinese take out place.  Since we are all here on the Cape I tried to make them from scratch.  Not really so hard in the end, bet you can do it too.  If you want to borrow my steamer you can.  


Oh, and now I've been reminded that "steamed vegie dumplings" were actually my idea from the get go!!  Geesh.

Curry Chickpea and Roasted Butternut Squash soup

Hi there!

That troublesome question of "What's for lunch?" can today best be answered with this yummy soup.

This is really a good one if you like curry and chickpeas.  I'm always on the look out for vegetarian alternatives to the usual standard lunch and dinner fares.   I don't know how I stumbled on to this soup but one day I just happened to have all the ingredients in my fridge, left overs from their various other meals, and they all ended up in the pot together.  Yum!!

With a big change in diet away from carbohydrates, dairy and corn; hummus had become a staple.  This was probably by default while I sought after broadening our healthy eating choices to what has now settled into a mostly gluten free lifestyle.  A staple in my gluten and cheese free fridge are chick peas.

Also, a little known fact about me is that I'm a pushover for butternut squash.  I love it roasted, smashed, with butter or without, with olive oil, or not, and always lots and lots of salt and pepper.  And especially on Thanksgiving with a little brown sugar and maple syrup; to die for!

For this soup I just happened to have had some leftover butternut squash from the night before.  It had been simply roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Here's the soup!

Curry Chickpea and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

In a large soup pot saute in olive oil (without browning!) the following;

1 small/ medium onion, diced and
several cloves of garlic, minced

After about 10 minutes or so when the onions have become translucent,
Add;


1 Tbs curry powder or more to your liking
some cumin
some paprika

Cook 2 minutes more
Then add;


4-5 carrots cut in approximately 1" pieces
4-5 celery stalks, cut the same
and saute another 5 - 10 minutes still without browning!

Then add;

-2 cups cooked chick peas (canned are ok but you can easily cook these yourself from dried.  Just soak the night before then cook until done, according to package.
-1 cup or so, roasted butternut squash (cut in 1" chunks, toss with olive oil,  salt and pepper and roast in a fierce over for about an hour turning once or twice along the way)
-1 cup chopped tomatoes (Pomi or canned is fine, fresh are good too) (they aren't essential either, so skip you don't have any)

Stir in;

1 small can coconut milk
4 cups chicken stock or enough to cover
salt and pepper

Since everything is already cooked, just gently boil this hearty brew for a few more minutes.  That will ensure proper cooking of the broth and allow flavors at least a little time to mingle.  I then take about 80% of the soup and puree it in my blender or food processor.  This gives it both a smooth(er) texture while maintaing some of it's country heartiness.   Then serve immediately and enjoy!!

Walker Pond

June 6, 2011


"Asparagus sandwiches?!"  


I thought she was nuts.   


Then I stopped reacting, thought about it for a few seconds and had to admit they kinda sounded good.  But better than the asparagus roll up which they turned into, was the part where we would go canoeing and eat them as a picnic dinner on a lake or pond of our choosing.  


We searched the map in the foyer and chose Walker's pond in Brewster, not to far from home.  I made the Asparagus roll-ups, we packed up the car, loaded the canoe on top and headed off for a late evening trip.  


The wind had dyed down nicely, the weather warmed up and it was still early enough in the eve to avoid the inevitable mosquito.   As soon as we arrived at the put-in, we saw a family of swans as well as some kind of a heron which we were later able to identify.  Some kind of a 'night heron' I think she said.  Realizing we forgot a camera on this trip we quickly improvised, packed my phone and headed out on to the pond.


For the most part we were getting the provisioning, packing, and maneuvering of the canoe into a more manageable arrangement.  From having gone off on our first voyage with nothing save an extra sweatshirt and the camera, we decided a couple of slight upgrades would add a little something to at least our peace of mind if not our general overal safety.  We were to be out on the water after all.  To that end we outfitted the canoe with a small anchor, extra ties, a first aid kit, and waterproof carry bags to put all our stuff in.  Now we could travel in style, we had somewhere formal and secure to stash the picnic, the camera and many other yet to be invited items.  And of course we had addressed safety.  


During all this procurement of the 'right stuff' for the canoe, I began to worry that we would lose the spontaneity and lightness of that first trip.  But just as the asparagus sandwiches turned out to be delicious in their simplicity, so too did the outfitting of the canoe with just a couple modest additions.  Some obvious organization  allowed for the packing and loading of the canoe onto and off of the car and in and out of the water to stay practically seamless.  Except for the part where I fell down just as we were about to drop the boat in the water that is!!  


Good thing I can make one heck of an Asparagus roll-up.