I love dumplings for Chinese take-out, and so do my kids, but they definitely not what I would consider a healthy dinner options. So I set out to make a healthier, vegan version of our favorite take-out treat. I am not exactly an expert in Asian cuisine, and I surely do not have all the ingredients on hand to whip up Chinese food on a whim, so I winged it a little bit and used ingredients I had on hand, and I think most of you will have on in your pantries as well! We do not eat meat, so I used jackfruit as a type of meaty replacement. If you do not have jackfruit on hand, the filling will be just as yummy without it! You will just need to add more hummus to make up for the loss in volume. Another added bonus of this recipe, is that you do not need to cook the filling before filling your dumplings, which cuts down on prep time quite a bit!

The best part of making your own dumpling dough is how easily you can turn dinner prep into a hands-on activity for your kids. When I set out to roll my wrappers, I also cut a few extra pieces for my kids along with some play-doh accessories, and they were more than entertained during the 20 minutes it took to roll, fill and shape the dumplings. Just be prepared for a little extra flour finding its way to the floor ;P

vegan (spelt) dumplings

makes 32 dumplings...or less if you give your kids some dough to play with!

ingredients:

Dough:

2.5 cups spelt flour

pinch of salt

1 cup boiling water

Filling:

1 can jackfruit, pulled

1 carrot, peeled thinly

3/4 cup hummus

1/2 cup arugula, or any other leafy green, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

4 green onions, finely chopped

1/8 cup sesame seeds

2 teaspoons liquid aminos (or soy sauce)

1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

4 ish Tablespoons of coconut oil for frying

method:

In a large bowl, stir the spelt flour and the salt together with a fork and continue to mix as you slowly add in the boiling water. Stir vigorously for about a minute into well incorporated. Take out of bowl and knead on a counter for 3-5 minutes, or until you have a smooth ball of dough. Set aside while you make your filling.

In another bowl, add all of your prepped filling ingredients and mix together well. If you have picky easters make sure you cut up all those veggies as small as you can! Larger chunks are able to be picked out more easily ;)

Take your dough and slice it into 8ths. Each one of those triangles will then be cut into 4 pieces. Using a little extra flour on your work surface to make the dough "unsticky" occasionally, press each little piece into about 3 inch circles. These do not have to be perfect circles...don't get caught up on their appearance at this stage!

Next, add 1 tablespoon of filling directly in the center of each circle. Then you fold up the sides of each circle, making a sort of taco and then they meet in the middle. Press the dough together in a pinching motion to seal the filling inside. The dough should be sticky enough on its own without adding water to seal it.

Heat a large skillet with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Add your dumplings in batches (it took me 4 batches) adding more oil in between each batch. Pan-fry your dumplings about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and crispy!