Vegetable Protein Gyoza

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ”

— Edward Everett Hale

Remember when I reviewed Julia Muller's new cookbook, Let Them Eat Kale, well there will be a giveaway at the bottom of this post! It's such a wonderful book, if you want to read my review of it please see this post and of course, enter the drawing below!

You guys are going to really want to make these. Homemade gyoza are astronomically tastier and healthier than their store-bought brethren. Plus, if you're vegan like me it can be difficult to find cruelty-free ones in the grocery store. 

My gyoza (aka pot sticker or wonton) might look a bit odd, and that's because I like to use red cabbage instead of green. However, green cabbage will work just fine too. These little guys pack a big protein punch thanks to TVP, which works beautifully because it soaks up all the saucy goodness and creates a perfect "meat-like" texture for the gyoza filling.

If you use a food processor to prepare the vegetables, this recipe will come together in a snap. I've included directions on how to steam or pan fry the little buggers (I like mine steamed) and also two different folding methods.

Yep, they're pretty darn foolproof. If you've never made them before, now's the perfect opportunity! Don't worry, I'll be your copilot. 

The best part about my recipe is that you'll have some filling leftover that can be frozen for quick gyoza prep when you get a mad hankering for them, like I often do. Also, the wrappers can be frozen too in case you only want to use half a package. 

Just look how awesome they are! I swear they're super duper easy to fold up. Here, I'll show you how to make a "nun's hat" gyoza. 

In case you a weird bias with regards to nuns, here's how to fold a simple, delicious little gyoza package.

See? I told you it was easy. Now go make some gyoza and impress your friends, family, and your tastebuds!

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Vegetable Protein Gyoza

by Katie @ Produce on Parade August-13-2014

A veggie filled gyoza that's also packed with protein, but vegan! Quick and easy with the help of a food processor. Steamed or pan-fried and two instructions on how to fold. Inspired by Half Baked Harvest.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• ½ brown onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 lb. Crimini mushrooms, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, minced
• ½ head (10 oz.) red or green cabbage, minced
• ¼ cup liquid amino acids or soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. agave nectar or brown sugar
• 1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
• 1 package of 40 wonton/gyoza/pot sticker wrappers
• ¼ cup mirin or rice wine vinegar
• ¼ cup liquid amino acids or soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. agave nectar or brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
• dash of sesame seeds

Instructions

I use a food processor to mince the vegetables. If you don’t have one, it’s a good idea to prep all the vegetables ahead of time. In a large frying pan, heat the sesame oil over medium. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the onions begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the ginger and mushrooms and continue to sauté until the mushrooms lose most their moisture, about 8-10 minutes. Then, add the bell pepper and cabbage. Continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes, until most of the water from the vegetables has evaporated. This will allow for concentrated flavors.Now add the soy sauce, agave nectar, and TVP. Stir well to combine and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, until the TVP has soaked up all the liquid and is tender. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Set aside. In a small bowl add about ½ cup of cold water. To assemble the gyoza, lay a wrapper flat and with a finger, wet the bottom edge closest to you and up half the sides with the water. Place one heaping teaspoon of the filling into the lower middle portion of the wrapper and fold in half lengthwise, pressing all the sides together. Careful not to overfill. Fold in half lengthwise again and then wet the lower right corner and the left top corner. Bring the two together and press to connect. Set aside and repeat with remaining wrappers. Any leftover filling can be frozen for quick gyoza making later. Also, the wrappers can be frozen too. The assembled gyoza can be steamed or pan fried. I prefer mine steamed only, but if you want them pan fried there are instructions below as well.To steam: Prepare your steamer with a few inches of water. Line the steamer basket with parchment paper to fit and spray with a nonstick cooking spray for good measure. Once the water is ready, add as many gyozas as possible without them touching. Steam for about 5 minutes, remove from the steamer basket and repeat with remaining gyoza. To pan fry: Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium. Add as many gyoza as possible without them touching. Allow to brown for a minute or two, then add about ¼ cup of water and cover with a lid. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, until most of the water is evaporated. Gently remove from the pan and repeat with reaming gyoza.For the Sauce: Combine all the ingredients below the gyoza wrappers in a small bowl and whisk well.Serve hot with the dipping sauce. Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 40 potstickers

German Word of The Day

Wonton --> Wan-Tan (vahn-tahn)

Good Deed of The Day

Do you know what a pangolin is? I didn't! Well, they are one of the cutest little creatures you've ever seen and are nearly extinct in the wild. However, in Vietnam and China, the animals are still considered a delicacy. Please help take pangolins off the menu by urging the Chinese and Vietnamese policymakers to stop standing by idly while the pangolin is hunted to extinction! 

A Giveaway!

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What Do Vegans Bring Backpacking?

“To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world.”

— John Muir

John had it right. If you haven't had the profound pleasure of visiting Alaska, come on up already! And when you make it up here, give us a holler, we'll show you around.

Blueberry picking is my favorite thing ever.  Period. I cannot put into words how deeply I yearn to go on our adventures to pluck those juicy, sweet little orbs. It's on par with Christmas. For real. That magical feeling swells and swirls in my heartstrings in anticipation of mid-August when the blueberries are ripe and perfect. I think about it all year long. 

Vegan + Prius = Level 100 Eco-Hippy. 

We like to pick our berries up at Sheep Mountain, in solitude. It's a vast place that's dominated mostly by four-wheeling hunters (Boo! #sorrynotsorry), but never really see anyone. People aren't generally backpacking where we go. Reason number one, the water situation is less than ideal. I mean, we got water, but we had to bushwhack the same amount of time we actually spent hiking up to our campsite. Reason number two, stupid four-wheeler noises in the distance day and night. Reason number three, it's out of the way. Way out of the way. 

On the plus side, there's lots of berries. The night before, we dehydrated a noodle recipe that I unfortunately wasn't able to document and do a post on. Maybe next week? But, I can give you some insight into what foods vegans bring backpacking. Or, at least the kinds of things that Todd and myself bring. Here's what we brought on this trip. Maybe it will give you some ideas!

• 2 servings of homemade, dehydrated Teriyaki Pasta
• 1 bag of falafel chips
• 1 tub of hummus
• 4 Prime Meatless Jerky strips
• 2 Nutz over Chocolate Luna Bars
• 2 Fruit Leathers
• 1/2 Endangered Species dark chocolate bar
• 1 box of Hot Tamale candies
• 2 servings of homemade oatmeal packets
• fresh blueberries picked for our oatmeal
• 2 Starbucks Via coffee packets
• 1 single serving Silk Very Vanilla soy milk
• 1 single serving almond milk caramel latte
• water
• small concentrated Crystal Light bottle (in case you filter some funky tasting water, it happens)
• snacks for the road trip up included Annie's Chocolate Bunny Grahams, Original Sun Chips, Gatorade, Monster Energy Drinks (don't judge), and Justin's dark peanut butter cups.

Our backpacking adventures may or may not also kind of be a junk food adventure as well. We don't eat a lot of processed foods at home and so when backpacking, we tend to go a bit crazy.

It can be heavy and cumbersome to bring fresh fruits and veggies, ensuring that they are properly prepared and packaged so they don't get damaged. I did try to bring some fresh foods. Okay, so I bought some apples...that we left at home....

In case you're wondering, yep, Bob has his own pack. It's the best thing ever. Also, please don't judge me based on this photo. I am just now realizing how absurd I look.

I know you're not supposed to cook next to your tent (I did work at REI afterall), but it was super windy we we got to the top and at that very spot on the right of the tent, was the only place of calmness. 

Regrettably, we were a bit early on the bluebs. Next week they'll be perfect. I only picked a small amount, until I finally felt bad and quit. Some bushes had ripe berries, a few were totally green, but most were somewhere in between and I felt pretty guilty picking them. 

Last year we went super late (not really thinking of picking berries) and hit the motherload up at this spot. However, a lot of the berries were seriously past their prime and tasted fermented almost! See last years trip in this post.

Bob did a little doggy meditating in the sun the next morning, when the wind was gone. I almost brought my yoga mat, but I only had my heavy one at home. It would have been a most epic yoga practice though!

Todd snapped some early morning pics while I was still sleeping in the tent with Bob. There's a few more fun photos on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter that you won't want to miss. Like the time we had to eat with twigs...#mybad.

Yep, I think it's settled that we'll be heading up there again very soon. I can hear those little blueberries calling my name! Bob can too.

Magnificent Mango Shake

“I recommend a plant-based diet because I know it’s going to lower their blood pressure, improve their insulin sensitivity, and decrease their cholesterol.”

— Dr. Kim A. Williams, vegan and president-elect of the American College of Cardiology, in yesterday's New York Times

Last weekend was my very beautiful BFF's wedding. She was unbelievably gorgeous you guys and it was an immensely joy filled, sunny day. 100% completely stunning. For your viewing pleasure, below, is a totally badass photo. In case you're wondering, yes,  this is what I look like all the time. Complete with a bouquet of wildflowers.

Okay, that might not be true but my face usually looks like that, which embodies a, "Don't mess with me, I'm super tough" attitude. Fine, fine, that's not true either. It is true, however, that I am a profoundly unphotogenic subject and any decent photo of me is usually candid, like this one. I have no absolutely no idea why I was standing that way, but it works. At least I wasn't picking a wedgie or something. I love all the groomsman just being silly boys in the background. So handsome, huh?!

What a fabulous day! Anyway, moving on. Remember a couple posts ago when I was confessing that we only had mangoes and sweet potatoes in the house because I haven't been able to make it to the store...in like a month? Yes, well, another mango recipe...I'm sorry. God, I hope you all like mangoes (who doesn't?!) I swear this is the end of mangoes and sweet potatoes for some time to come. Pinky promise. Wait, scratch that...I can't promise that. I love them both so much! 

You need this little beauty in your life. 

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Magnificent Mango Shake

by Katie @ Produce on Parade August-8-2014

A magnificent vegan, mint, lime, and ginger infused mango shake. It embodies the taste of summer and is free from soy, nuts, and bananas! Note: Use a fresh, juicy ripe mango you cube yourself, as opposed to pre-frozen chunks. It will be much more flavorful.

Ingredients

• 1/2 can (7 oz.) full-fat coconut milk
• 1 frozen mango, cubed
• 6 fresh mint leaves
• ½ Tbsp. lime juice
• ½-1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• small sprinkling of ground cardamom, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Add everything to a high-speed blender, beginning with the milk. Blend on high until very smooth and creamy. Serve cold and with a small sprinkling of ground cardamom

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: Total time: 5 mins Yield: 1

German Word of The Day

Camera shake --> Verwacklungsunschärfe (ver-vahk-loongs-un-shelfa) Oh you Germans are so crazy! I have a lot of Verwacklungsunschärfe with my terribly shaky hands. 

Good Deed of The Day

Umm...this is 110% freaking awesomeness. The president-elect of the American College of Cardiology is vegan and wants you to be too, for your health. My hats off to this sensible, awesome-sauce, rad MD. Better listen to the good doctor. Read about it in yesterday's New York Times.