Vegetable stir-fry with tofu-scallion dumplings

Once a week Andrea, Kevin, and I cook a vegetarian dinner together. Tonight we made an easy, customizable, staple dish – spicy vegetable stir-fry. An impulse buy at the Asian grocery – thin, circular wonton wrappers – led to our side for the night, tofu-scallion dumplings.  Though they were a bit labor intensive, the delicate and surprisingly authentic tasting end result was worth the work.  

The great thing about stir-fries is that you don’t need to be precise with ingredients. Just throw in your favorite veggies and a healthy handful of fresh ginger and garlic into the wok and enjoy with rice or noodles and a dash of soy sauce. This dish, especially with wholesome brown rice – is filling and nutritious!

Total prep and cooking time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

Stir-fry:

2 cups brown rice

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbs ginger, chopped

½ package firm tofu, cubed

1 large head broccoli

1 red pepper, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

6 oz spinach, chopped

Chili garlic paste, soy sauce, and sesame seeds to taste

Sesame oil

1.     Bring 4 cups of water and the rice to a boil. Reduce to low heat and cook for 40-50 minutes.

2.     Meanwhile, sauté garlic, ginger, and tofu in sesame oil in a large wok, until tofu starts to brown. Turn off heat and let sit until rice has 15 minutes left.

3.     Add broccoli and peppers to pan. Cover and cook on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir spinach in and cook on low heat for two minutes more.

4.     Serve stir-fry on top of rice, adding chili garlic paste, soy sauce, and sesame sauce to taste.

Dumplings:

16 wonton wrappers

½ package firm tofu, chopped

5 scallions, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tsp ginger, chopped

1 egg

Sesame oil

Soy sauce to taste.

1.     Sauté tofu, garlic, and ginger in sesame oil for about 10 minutes. Pour mixture into a small bowl.

2.     Wisp egg into another small bowl and set aside.

3.     With your fingertips, wet the outside perimeter of the uncooked wonton wrapper with egg. Put 1 teaspoon of tofu mixture in center of wrapper, and fold in half. Press wonton edges together firmly. Repeat 15 times.

4.     Bring a pot of water to boil. Submerge uncooked dumplings and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until dumpling poof out and soften. Carefully remove from water with a slotted spoon.

5.     Serve warm with soy sauce.

By - Nora Dunne

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