You’ve probably noticed, dear readers, that I’ve been a little slower getting out regular blogs and newsletters these past few months. That’s because I’ve been cleaning up my website and social media accounts (in addition to dealing with all that is pandemic life, of course). I’ve had a lot of fun cleaning up my website, in particular, because it’s shown me just how far I’ve come since I started blogging eight years ago. Plus, I’ve found a few blog posts that I meant to post but forgot about. Oops!
Take this one I wrote on making kitchen sink dumplings back in 2018. I know! I wrote it three years ago (or three hundred if we are measuring it in pandemic years) for my year of buying, using, and wasting less. Truth be told those are things I haven’t been as great about this past year as we’ve all had to prioritize safety over sustainability. I hope to one day soon get back to doing my own grocery shopping using my own produce and canvas bags instead of relying on delivery and plastic packaging, even as I understand the importance of not doing those things right now. Safety first!
Still, this recipe strikes me as a great one for stay-at-home life. It helps you utilize whatever you have in your kitchen without needing to run an extra errand or have another order delivered. It’s also a soothing meditation for when you have a whole afternoon at home and want to relax in the kitchen. Plus, it’s pretty tasty! Check out my three-year-old musings below for the recipe.
Original Post
When it comes to reducing waste, I've learned to get creative with food scraps. All those odds and ends--from a tiny wedge of cheese to the handful of shredded cabbage and the half a celery stick--are easily forgotten after a trip to the grocery store. Usually, those scraps end up in my compost, but lately, I've been trying to make sure I use everything.
Enter this Kitchen Sink Dumpling recipe adapted from The Woks of Life's veggie dumplings recipe. This has become one of my go-to recipes for when I have more greens than I know what to do with. A handful of spinach, a bushel of kale, that half a cabbage head...it all works well for this dish! If you're like me and have a lot of greens in your fridge, then this is the dish for you. It works especially well for wilted greens or any veggie past its prime (I've been known to sneak in a half a bell pepper and few soft carrots into the mix).
What I love about this recipe is that it includes homemade wrappers--perfect for a lady trying to limit her consumption of packaged goods. Don't be scared off by this either. Like all my favorite recipes, it is SO darn easy! These also make delicious egg rolls; all you have to do is make the wraps bigger. I like to make a big batch and then freeze them for healthy quick lunches or dinners. It beats takeout, hands down.
It should be mentioned here that I am no expert in dumpling making, but I like to think I make decent haphazard ones using a pizza cutter and some ravioli-making know-how. The sauce, too, is a little creation I've made over the years that mimics the flavor of soy sauce, rice vinegar and chile...I just use what I have on hand (usually liquid amino acids, apple cider vinegar, and some sort of chile paste) to avoid buying too many ingredients I may only use a time or two then forget about. Use what you have and feel free to sub ingredients as needed.
Ingredients
For the Wrappers:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
For the Filling:
1 inch ginger, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 sweet onion, minced
2 carrots, shredded
2 cups greens of choice, shredded
1 tsp chile pepper flakes
salt to taste
For sauce:
1 tablespoon liquid amino acids or soy sauce
1 tablespoon white rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon chile paste
For the wrappers, mix flour and water in bowl until dough forms (you may end up needing to add a little more water). Let sit for an hour.
In the meantime, heat oil in a large saucepan on medium. Add ginger, garlic, chile flakes and onions and cook until translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, stirring every few minutes, until greens are cooked through, roughly 10-15 minutes. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat and let cool, about 30 minutes. Once mixture is cool, blend either using an immersion blender or food processor, until ingredients are paste-like. This makes sure that each dumpling is more or less uniform in flavor (I'm not yet good enough at dumpling-making to make them uniform in shape!)
To make the dumplings, roll out half of the wrapper dough on a lightly floured surface. Run pizza cutter or knife through dough so that you have roughly 2 in. x 2 in. squares. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling in each square and then gather the wrapper's edges together. I like to fold mine into triangles and then crimp the edges. Repeat until you've used up all your ingredients.
To cook, heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium in skillet and cook dumplings for two minutes, flipped halfway to brown the other side. For sauce, mix room temperature ingredients in mason jar and shake until combined. Serve with rice and pickled veggies (picture here), topped with scallions, or on their own.
Makes roughly 2 dozen. Enjoy!
Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational collection of musings touching on life’s simple pleasures, everyday enchantments, and delectable recipes that will guarantee to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is the everyday, subscribe here.
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