green and granola

You’ve maybe noticed that there’s been a decided lack of posts for the last while.  Things really trickled over the last few months and then more recently went from a trickle to completely absent.  That would be because about three weeks ago, we had the joy, the pleasure, and the privilege to welcome a new little boy into our home!  He arrived after a pretty grueling labor, but we managed to make it work at home with our midwives the way we were hoping too.  I’ll be doing a separate post on home births, water births, and the like later.  It was an amazing and empowering (and yes, terrifying) experience, as I imagine most births are for women.  I’ve been getting into the swing of things with a newborn that is very hungry and demanding, and managing a (somewhat jealous) toddler and a (somewhat disinterested) five year old.  Cooking has, it stands to reason, fallen by the wayside.  But I was happy to be able to pull together some odds and ends over the last week, and these little nuggets are delicious, healthy, and versatile.  They are not as sweet as my other little nugget (yeah I’m totally in love), and no where as lovely, but I think you’ll find they do well in the food department.

Makes approximately 40 wontons  

2 cups yellow split peas, cooked 4 cloves garlic, minced 3 tbsp ginger, minced 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp rice vinegar 1 tsp chili garlic sauce 12 oz package of potsticker wraps (I used egg free but you could use whatever brand you prefer)

Easy prep tip:  Cook the split peas and cool ahead of time.  I used 2 cups dry split peas, rinsed and cooked in 3 cups of water with vegetable bouillon.  You could also use canned if you prefer to skip a step.  Don’t worry if you don’t like/have/or want to use yellow split peas; you could use almost any type of split pea or dried lentil.

Heat sesame oil in small nonstick skillet and add ginger and garlic.  Saute until browning and fragrant, then place in food processor with the split peas.  Puree mixture until uniform but not smooth, some chunkiness is fine.  Add the remaining ingredients, pulse to blend a few times.  Scrape mixture into a bowl and set aside.  On a cookie sheet, lay out rows of wrappers.  Near the cookie sheet, fill a small bowl with warm water.  If you have a rounded teaspoon, I found that it worked best for this, but you could also use any type of small spoon or scoop. Since I don’t have a special steamer for this, I use my regular old vegetable steamer with a large pan, filled with water just under the steamer bottom, and a lid.  It works perfectly, as long as you remember to use a little oil or nonstick spray to keep the wontons from sticking.  You can also fry or poach them, should you choose to do so.

Once you have your pan set up and the water heating in it, place a small scoop of the pea mixture in the wrap, then dip your fingers into the water and trace around the edges of the wonton.  You can fold up into little purses, or make little crimped edge half circles or squares, or whatever.  Just seal the edges and then once you have a good dozen or enough to put in the steamer, spray or wipe with oil and pop them into the steamer.  Put the lid on the pan and allow wontons to steam for about five to seven minutes.  They should appear somewhat glossy and transparent once cooked.  Remove from steam and repeat until done.  I like to make a big batch of these and freeze them for future use.  To do this, simply stop once you’ve sealed your wontons, then place on a piece of waxed paper on another cookie sheet and put in the freezer for an hour or so.  Once they are frozen you can put them in a container and store in the freezer until ready to use.  Frozen wontons can be cooked the same way the fresh ones are. You can serve them as an appetizer to a main meal, in a broth for soup, or on a bed of greens.  We really liked them served on a bed of baby kale with reduced balsamic or a chili pepper sauce drizzled over.  Enjoy!