Easy potstickers and Paleo Fried "Rice"

Today's post is going to be about two separate recipes that go wonderfully together. Today we are doing Chinese take-out fake out! The potstickers are filled with a traditional pork filling (although I bet that half pork and half shrimp would be very good), gently pan fried and then steamed. The fried rice is actually not rice at all, it's cauliflower!  I haven't jumped on the paleo bandwagon completely, but I do enjoy some of the recipes that I have tried. You would never know it though because it does genuinely taste almost exactly the same. This is a very healthy take on what would normally be a calorie laden takeout meal.

The potsticker recipe is from a recipe card I dug out of my box, the origin of the recipe is unknown.

The fried "rice" recipe is from Family Fresh Recipes

Easy potstickers and Paleo fried "rice"

Potstickers

Ingredient List

1 lb ground pork

1/4 cup water chestnuts, minced

4 green onions, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 TBSP minced ginger

1/2 cup napa cabbage, sliced very thinly

1 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP sesame oil

1 package round dumpling wrappers

1 cup water

Instructions 

1- Combine pork, chestnuts, onions, garlic, ginger, cabbage, soy sauce, and oil.

2- Place a small amount of filling the size of a nickel in the middle of each dumpling wrapper.

3- Moisten the edges of the wrappers with water, and fold them. To to this you fold the wrapper in half so it looks like a half moon, then crimp the edges.

4- Heat a TBSP of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Place the potstickers in the skillet upright and cook until golden brown on the bottom. 

5- Add the cup of water to the skillet, turn heat down to medium, cover with a lid and cook until the water has been cooked off and the pork filling is cooked completely.

6- Serve with soy sauce or gyoza sauce.

Paleo fried "rice"

Ingredient List

2 cups of riced cauliflower (I used a cheese grater)

2 carrots, cut into coins

Half a large onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup frozen peas 

1 TBSP oil

Soy sauce to taste

2 eggs, scrambled

Instructions

1- Heat oil over medium high heat. Cook onions until they have softened, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2- Add carrots and peas and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

3- Add scrambled egg, cauliflower and soy sauce, cook until everything is heated through.

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Mediterranean Smothered Chicken

Holy YUM.

This chicken is SO amazingly delicious and healthy and if that wasn't enough it is pretty, so so pretty. The original recipe suggested serving it with pasta which would be really tasty but we had pasta last night so I didn't do so.  I imagine it would also be quite tasty with a nice crusty bread that you could use to sop up the luscious sauce left on your plate (unless you lick it clean, I don't judge).

Recipe Adapted from: Iowa Girl Eats

My rating: 5/5 , I will definitely be making this again.

Changes: I did make a few modifications here. First of all, I omitted the capers because they're stinky and gross (or maybe I just dislike them). I also substituted the fresh basil with fresh flat leaf parsley, substituted the shallots for 1 large onion and roasted my own tomatoes (tomatoes, drizzled with EVOO, in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes) because I couldn't find the jarred ones for the friggin everloving life of me. The recipe below is not the original recipe and it reflects the changes that I made.

Mediterranean Smothered Chicken

 Ingredient List:

                                                                 

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

olive oil (to cook the chicken in)

salt and pepper to taste

1 large onion, diced finely

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 roma tomatoes, roasted

1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup chicken broth (preferrably low sodium)

1/4 cup half and half

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup fresh parsley, pulvarized (I feel like this is the best word to describe what I did to it)

My mise en place* . Isn't she purdy?

Directions

1.) Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet at medium high, add chicken breasts and cook until golden on both sides and cooked through.

2.) Remove chicken from pan onto a paper towel lined plate. Add the 2 TBSP of olive oil to the pan and once the oil is hot add the onion and sweat it. Once the onion is ready add the garlic and cook until fragrant, approximately 30 seconds. 

3.)This is where things get good. Reduce the heat to medium and add the artichokes, tomatoes, and lemon zest. Cook until everything is heated through and then add the broth and cream. Cook for one minute before adding the parsley, and then the lemon juice. Cook until just slightly reduced, about 2 minutes.

4.) Add the chicken back to the pan, or plate up the chicken and top with ( or "smother") the chicken with the contents of the pan. 

* Mise en place is french for put into place. This is when you have all of your ingredients out, measured and ready for you. This is very helpful with this recipe in particular because it moves along so quickly.

Bon Appetite!

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General Tso's Chicken

A delicious Asian treat, General Tso's chicken is sweet, spicy and crunchy, and it will leave you coming back for seconds and maybe even thirds.

                                   General Tso's Chicken

Recipe adapted from: Food.com

Recipe Rating: 4 out of 5. This was a very good recipe but it wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be so next time I will be adding more of the dried chilies.


Ingredient List:

3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups green onions, sliced
8 small dried chilies, seeds removed

Cornstarch slurry
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 cup cornstarch

Sauce
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
14 1/2 ounces low sodium chicken broth


Directions:

1.) Place sauce ingredients in a quart jar with a lid and shake to mix.

2.) Mix cornstarch slurry in a large bowl. Add chicken pieces to coat. Using a fork remove chicken one piece at a time and let the excess mixture drip off. Add chicken to the hot oil and fry until crispy. Do not crowd the pan with chicken, work in batches if you need to.

3.) Drain on paper towels. Keep warm in a 200 degree oven.

4.) In a separate wok or large skillet add a small amount of oil and heat to 400 degrees.

5.) Add green onions and hot peppers and stir fry about 30 seconds.

6.) Stir sauce mixture, and then add to pan with onions and peppers, cook until thick. If it gets too thick, add a little water. .

7.) Add chicken to sauce in wok, and cook until all is hot and bubbly.

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Cheesy Vegetable Chowder (A.K.A The Best Soup You'll Ever Eat)

I know that it is only August and fall isn't here yet, but it's already soup weather here! The past few weeks have been chilly and windy so I broke out this delicious recipe. I don't usually make the same thing more than once every couple of months and last winter I made it once a week! That's how good it is! Plus as a bonus it uses up ingredients that I almost always have on hand. Taste wise it's like a souped-up (absolutely no pun intended) broccoli and cheddar soup. Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted from: Lulu the Baker

My Rating: 5 stars! Thumbs up! Encore, encore!

Changes? I add more celery than the recipe calls for because I love celery. No other changes will be made when I make this in the future.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Ingredient List:

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery sticks, finely chopped 

1 clove garlic, minced

4 cups chicken broth

2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions: 

Melt the butter in a large pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook over medium heat until tender. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer.  Add in the chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are cooked.  Mix flour with water to make a slurry, add slurry to pot, and simmer until soup is thickened.  Add in the milk and the broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through. Add in the shredded cheese and serve.

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