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Crispy Baked Wonton Cups

Wonton wrappers are such a quick and easy way to create visually appealing and tasty appetizers and sides.  I've tried a couple of different recipes for homemade baked wontons and while the effort is always worth it in the end, it does take a long time to seal each individual wonton, especially when making a bunch for a party.  Enter a muffin tin and you get the same textures and taste with a lot less work, plus they are pretty to look at!

Most wonton wrappers you find in the store are not vegan (the dough contains eggs) but a quick google search will net you a simple recipe for a veganized version, although you will need the kitchen space and right tools to get the desired result.  You could take this idea a million ways.  Fill up the wonton cups with your favorite vegan dip like spinach and artichoke or spicy buffalo chik'n, simple sautéed veggies, or asian inspired wontons.

       

Pictured above are my takes on cheese wontons and nachos.  For the cheese wontons I made a vegan cream cheese from silken tofu and cashews and mixed in some garlic powder and chopped chives.  For the nacho cups I used leftover walnut "taco meat" from a previous meal, a small spoonful of cowboy caviar, and topped it with a nut and diary free roasted jalapeño nacho sauce.

To make your wonton cups:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray a standard size muffin tin with cooking spray.  Use a pastry brush to make sure each muffin cup is lightly oiled all around.
3. Place one wonton wrapper in each cup and gently press down to form a cup shape.  Make sure you have some wrapper coming up each side to ensure a bowl shape to hold the fillings.  Spray each wonton again lightly with cooking spray.
4. Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes.  They should be beginning to look "dry" and just starting to be golden but not brown.  
5. Take out the muffin tin and add your fillings.  (A heaping teaspoon is usually enough.)
6. Return to the oven and cook for about another 5 minutes.  Keep a close eye on them, you want the wontons to be browned and crisp, but they go from browned to burnt very quickly!  Serve immediately.

Smoky Maple Seitan Sausage Links

These simple sausage links are smoky, spicy, and sweet!  I couldn't get over how easy these were to  make and it seems so impressive.  My roommate's response: "you MADE those?!"  The secret is some aluminum foil and a steamer.  After an initial test run we thought the maple and smoky flavors were great but it needed some spice to balance the fennel and maple syrup.  Some crush red pepper does the trick.  If you don't like spicy foods just omit the pepper and enjoy the smoky sweetness.  I also cooked them in a pan after steaming to brown the outside of the links and added an extra bit of maple flavor.

Ingredients
Makes 8 Sausage Links

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten
• 1/8 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 Tbsp dried sage
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 2 T pure maple syrup, divided (1 T for sausage mixture, 1 T for pan glazing)
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 T reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 c vegetable broth

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Combine all wet ingredients in another small cup or bowl.
3. Slowly mix in wet ingredients to the dry mixing bowl, stirring quickly, until a moist spongey "dough" forms.
4. Use your hands and knead the dough in the bowl for about 3 minutes to ensure all ingredients are mixed through.
5. Separate the dough into four equal sized pieces.
6. Tear or cut foil into sheets about 8 in. wide.
7. Tear each ball of dough into two pieces and use your hand to squish and roll each piece into a sausage link shape (about 3-4 in. long).  Roll up in the foil and twist the ends tight, like a candy wrapper.  Fold the ends down.  (see picture)
8. Set up a steamer on your stove top and when water is boiling place your sausage links in, cover, and steam for about 20 minutes or until links feel firm.
9. Remove and let cool for about 5 minutes and foil is cool to the touch.
10. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat.  Unwrap and add the sausage links to the pan and cook for about five minutes until links are browning.  Make sure to move links around to get each side browned.
11. Pour 1 T of maple syrup over the links and stir quickly to glaze each link in the syrup before it completely evaporates and serve immediately.

Serving Idea:  I served the links with polenta slices, pan fried in coconut oil, with a chopped green onion, and topped with avocado.  

Adapted from this recipe.

Falafel Zucchini Pancakes

Chickpea flour is one of my new favorite ingredients to use in the kitchen.  It's great for starting roux in stews and pot pies, in homemade seitan, and of course in lots of different Mediterranean dishes.  I love falafel and Maoz is the only "fast food" that I'll eat these days.  It's still a special treat at that though because traditional falafel balls are deep fried, of course.  

I found this recipe for Falafel Patties on the package of Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour and decided to give them a half recipe test run with a few tweaks and they were a hit!  The biggest difference between these falafel patties was definitely the texture.  Since they are made from a flour they had more of a pancake type consistency but the flavor was dead on.  I just wanted to add a little more texture to them and zucchini was a super easy and nutritious way to do so.  The results were delicious, easy, and a fun new addition to our recipe box.  These would be great as a breakfast side or go full Mediterranean and serve them at dinner with a vegan tzatziki. 

Ingredients

Makes 6 Pancakes

• 1 cup Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) Flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 T olive oil, for frying
• 1 medium zucchini

1. Wash the zucchini and trim to the top and bottom off.  Grate the zucchini on a medium-large size on your grater.  
2. Use your hands to compress the zucchini into a ball shape and place in the center of a paper towel.  Twist the towel so it is tight around the zucchini and gently squeeze to expel some of the water from the zucchini.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly in a bowl.
4. Add in the water and lemon juice and stir until all ingredients are completely mixed through.  Set aside and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat.  Add the zucchini and cook until tender.  About 5-7 minutes.  Add the zucchini to the batter and mix thoroughly again.
6. Heat the olive oil in the nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot.  Spoon the batter into the hot oil (about 1 1/2 T to 2 T per pancake).  The batter will be thick so use a spatula to help spread the batter out to make each pancake thin and about 3-4 in in diameter.  
7. Cook on each side for about 4 minutes or until golden brown.  (If you have a smaller skillet do two batches of three pancakes using 1 T of oil per batch.)

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Basic Noodle Stir Fry Starter

Use this recipe as a base for your stir fry dishes.  The ingredients are cheap and easy to prepare.  Get creative and add pieces of savory baked tofu, large steamed broccoli florets, or your favorite veggie protein.  We like to make Trader Joe's Orange Chik'n (pictured) to top it with.  The stir fry sauce is a breeze to whisk up and is so flavorful.  The toasted sesame oil adds a ton of aromatic flavor and the combo of ingredients makes a slightly spicy and sweet zippy sauce.  The same recipe also makes a great marinade for tofu!

Ingredients
Serves 2

Stir Fry Sauce

• 3 Tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp sriracha sauce
• dash maple syrup
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

• 1/2 package cooked udon noodles or 4 oz. whole wheat spaghetti, cooked
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 Tbs coconut oil

1. Whisk together stir fry sauce ingredients.
2. Heat coconut oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium high heat
3. Add onions and mushrooms and cook for about 7 minutes until the onion in tender.
4. Add mixed vegetables and noodles and continue to cook for about another five minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Pour in stir fry sauce and mix throughly through veggies and noodles.  Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the liquid is gone, stirring frequently.
6. Get creative!  Now add whatever vegetables or veggie protein you'd like!