Low waste vegan potstickers & stir fried veggies with noodles
We were thinking of getting takeout after a long & busy day of holiday gatherings. Beatrice wanted dumplings or potstickers.
It dawned on me that we’ve made them before & it would be so much more low waste to make our own instead of getting a bunch of take out. So we did!
We stopped by the store for a few veggies to add to the potstickers, plus the wrappers & a box of noodles (in paper). The wrappers & tofu were the only plastic packaged items so it was a pretty low waste meal. Everything else was loose produce or foods from bulk bins – even the sesame oil! And soy sauce! Check out Staff of Life in Santa Cruz for those options.
You could also make your own wrappers with flour & water. GF flour (like brown rice) works too!
It definitely took longer but I put a good episode of top chef on & got to work. And Beatrice helped me too.
Here’s what we did:
Clean-out-the-fridge potstickers & stir fry
Make the potsticker filling:
These tasty little dumplings are an EXCELLENT way to clean out some leftovers. Half an onion? Leftover TVP bits? Kale? Mustard greens? One quarter of a head of cabbage? Use it up! The key is to chop or shred things to a small enough size that they’ll fit nicely in your wrappers.
- We shredded carrots & cabbage & then sauteed them on medium heat in a little sesame oil to soften them a bit. We also seasoned them with a little soy sauce.
- We added tvp bits to the sauté pan that were leftovers. These are super easy to make: cook in water until soft, then drain & season as you like. These were seasoned with a little liquid smoke, salt & pepper, and soy sauce (or tamari).
- And we added some pickled onions to the mix after we finished cooking the other veggies & tvp. These were more leftovers and are so easy to make. I like the recipe I used in this post for quick pickled onions.
Fill the potsticker wrappers
- We placed about a heaping tablespoon of the filling in the center of each wrapper.
- We dipped our fingertips in a small bowl of water & wet the outer edge of each wrapper.
- Then we closed up the wrappers and pinched the edges together to make them stick. Beatrice showed me a lovely folding technique – we folded about ¼” of the edge over onto itself & then gently pressed to keep the fold in place. You can also just press them together.
Cook the potstickers
- We got a large saute pan nice & hot & then added sesame oil & the potstickers to the pan – as many as fit without squishing them together.
- Once they got a bit of color on one side, we added a little bit of water (a couple tablespoons) to the pan & covered it with a lid to let them steam for a few minutes – until the wrappers were translucent & cooked all the way.
- Then we removed the lid & cooked a little longer until the water evaporated & the potstickers were a little crispy on the bottom once again.
- Next we carefully took them out of the pan & put them on a serving platter.
Make the potsticker dipping sauce
- You can do whatever you want here but we stirred together a little soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil to taste. Everyone at the table got a little bowl of dipping sauce.
Make the stir fried veggies & noodles
**This is another great chance to clean out your produce drawer before shopping. Use whatever veggies you have on hand.
- We used very thin spaghetti & cooked it in lightly salted water according to the box.
- We cut the broccoli, tofu, onions & eggplant in bite sized pieces & cubes of about 1” square.
- We soaked the cubed eggplant in water while we worked on the other ingredients.
- I first stir fried the broccoli & onions & set those aside.
- Then I drained the eggplant & patted it dry with a hand towel. Then I tossed the eggplant in a little cornstarch. I sauteed the eggplant on high heat until it was soft & had some nice color. Then I added it to the broccoli & onion mixture.
- Finally we put the noodles into a large serving platter & topped it with the veggies. Delish!
I forgot to get a photo of the stir fry! Doh! But here’s another photo of the yummy potstickers :).
This meal is a great low waste vegan dinner option. And it’s a great chance to avoid food waste by using up whatever produce is in your fridge.
What’s your favorite clean-out-the-fridge recipe? Leave a comment below & let me know! I always love hearing from you.
xo,
Liz