More Food!

This time, it's dinner!

What is it about being at home that makes me want to cook so much? Maybe it's my way of thanking my parents for everything they do for me... or maybe it's a convenient way to avoid doing other things, like unpacking my dorm stuff, or packing for my summer adventures.

Regardless, I seem to have been bitten by the cooking bug as of late, so today I decided to create a recipe for vegetarian dumplings to use up the wonton wraps I bought the other day. After skimming the internet, and not really finding anything that jumped out at me, I decided to just wing it, as is my usual style (especially when it comes to dinner- I'm more cautious with baking because that's a more scientific venture).

First, I marinated some chopped up extra-firm tofu in a concocted solution of teryaki sauce, orange juice, rice vinegar, and some pepper. While that was soaking, I chopped up some carrots, red pepper, and spinach, and my dad was kind enough to start up a pan with some sesame oil, ginger, and garlic. Eventually, all of the ingredients found their way to that pan, and I let them simmer for a while to soak up all of the flavors. I threw in some corn starch to thicken everything up, and then I got to work wrapping up the dumplings.


My dad helped (thankfully!), and although it was rough at first, eventually we came up with a folding system that worked efficiently.

After a short time in the oven, dinner was served. The rest of my family was having steak (yuck!) but I was more than happy to munch on my little creations with some Trader Joe's Gyoza dipping sauce. The result earned a seal of approval from both my mom and my tofu-hating dad, so I'd consider that a success.



Next time, I'd probably brush the shells with a little oil before baking because the edges got a little dried out, but baking was definitely a viable method, as the result was crispy without all of the grease associated with frying. I'm also interested in experimenting with other fillings, but I have yet to go wrong with the tangy orange-soy combination that I use in almost all of my Asian dishes.

I'd also consider cooking the tofu before I make the filling to firm it up a little better (for a vegetarian of 2+ years, I'm pretty inexperienced with cooking tofu because I love veggies so much, I haven't found the need to add much tofu to my diet).

I'm hoping that I can keep up the motivation to cook throughout the summer (when possible), and into the fall semester, when I'll have an on-campus apartment with a kitchen. Hopefully I'll be able to add a Latin-American flare to my cooking with some Honduran and Costa-Rican inspired flavors after my upcoming trips.

In other news, I got an email from the coordinator for my Ecuador/Galapagos Islands trip in Winter 2012, confirming my enrollment, and I got really excited! Hopefully I'll find the time to finish the two books on the top of my list right now- The Origin of Species and The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin. That's what summer is supposed to be about, right? Relaxing and catching up on stuff you put off during the year? The only problem is that my schedule seems to get even BUSIER during the summer months! There's just never enough time for anything!

Healthy Blondies?

After a whirlwind weekend of visiting friends, finishing up finals, and moving out of my dorm room, when I finally got home this afternoon, I needed to do something to relax. Since I really enjoy cooking/baking, I thought it would be nice to make something for my parents to come home to (and for me to enjoy, as well!), so I decided on an intriguing recipe I read about online recently:

Chocolate Chip Blondies

As a part of CCK's "Hug A Vegan Dessert" Extravaganza

Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I have difficulty following recipes exactly, partially because I rarely have all of the proper ingredients, and partially because I like to experiment. In these, I didn't have any chick peas, so I used cannelini beans instead, and I subbed out the brown sugar with 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup of oatmeal. I also replaced the 1/4 cup flax with oatmeal because I didn't have any flax on hand either.

I was hesitant to taste the batter, as I had just watched myself mash up a can of beans into a bowl of peanut butter, sugar, and various other dessert ingredients, and was a little weirded-out by the whole process. So when a smudge got on my finger, I took it as a sign and quickly licked it off, trying to pretend it was normal batter. I soon found out that the pretending was unnecessary, because they tasted absolutely delicious! Excited to try the finished product, I quickly spooned the mix into a mini muffin pan, and threw them in the oven to bake.

My mom came home before they were done, and since I had told her about the recipe previously, I decided not to hide the true nature of the blondies from her (plus, my mom doesn't much care for dessert, so telling her they were healthy would make it MORE likely for her to try some).

The finished product.

After they had cooled, we popped two out of the pan and dug in. I, having already approved the batter, had no trepidations and finished mine rather quickly, but my mom was a little hesitant. "I'm a little scared to eat this," she said, "knowing what it's made of." After seeing how quickly I had eaten mine, she got over her fear pretty quickly, and with just one bite she was in love, and we began brainstorming the flavor possibilities.

So my life lesson of the day is to be adventurous and push the boundaries of society, because who knows, you may just find something you really like. As for me, I plan on trying to sneak healthy things into my desserts more often, and to unleash my trickery onto unsuspecting friends and family members, starting tonight with my dad and a mini-muffin blondie.

A close-up texture shot:

Who would know that this wasn't a normal dessert?