Chicken and Veggie Potstickers

This is one of those recipes where I found myself thinking, “There is no way this is low calorie!?” I almost felt guilty eating it, it was that yummy. Recently I read in an article that when you are at a restaurant and hungry for an appetizer, if you see Potstickers on the menu, order them. More often than not, they’ll be the healthiest app option on there; even the fried version is better for you than some of the other standard fare.

The salty, vinegar-y, spicy mix of these ingredients had me headed back to my Asian roots. If you’re like me, I love to have fun with food so I grabbed my chopsticks and dug in! Of course, you can use your chopsticks for any type of cuisine. They help you to slow down and enjoy your meal...and when you slow down, you have less of a chance of missing that “I’m-getting-full” signal your tummy is sending to your brain.

This is also a great weeknight recipe; it's ready in about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 bag (Qty 20) Frozen Potstickers (you can use any flavor)
2 cups sugar snap peas, ends trimmed
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp olive oil or sesame oil, divided
3 T low sodium soy sauce
3 T rice wine vinegar
2 tsp Asian hot sauce like Siracha
Sesame seeds for garnish

In a large pot, bring water to a boil and drop the potstickers in. Bring back to a boil, cook for about 5 minutes, then drain. Meanwhile, in a skillet, sauté 1 tsp oil, garlic and mushrooms over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Turn the heat to med/high and add the rest of the oil. Place the potstickers into the pan and fry, untouched for about 4 minutes then flip them over to brown the other side. Once flipped, add the sugar snap peas, and cover while it cooks for 4 more minutes.

While the second side is browning, mix the soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce together and set aside.

When the potstickers are done, remove from heat and stir in the sauce. Divide among bowls, sprinkle with sesame seeds and dig in! Sooo Good!!

Variations:
• add onions and cook at the same time as mushrooms (or omit ‘shrooms altogether, if you are not a fan like my good buddy, Kelly Frady)
• use snow peas instead of snap peas
• add edamame
• add sliced carrots

This recipe is a little bit higher in sodium so be sure to use low-sodium soy sauce. You can also lower the amount of soy sauce and the flavor is still really great. Or throw caution to the wind and just be sure to drink lots of water!

Serves 4; 1 serving = 5 potstickers/330 calories