Carrot-Zucchini Wontons, Fried Rice and Pickled Carrots

Greg came over one last time before leaving for a year in Korea this week, and in honor of his relocation to Asia, we made Asian food. I didn't attempt any Kimchee...although I have a recipe for it, and the thought did cross my mind.

Instead, I decided to class it up a bit, and make the "daikon-carrot potstickers" from Vegetarian Planet There was only one problem with that choice...Shaws, which ALWAYS has Daikon, decided not to order any this week since apparently it hadn't been selling that well. They replaced it with horseradish root, since everyone needs that. I decided to try out Stop and Shop, but was told there that they NEVER stock Daikon...no wonder I don't shop at S&S. I could have gone to the Asian market, but it's much further out of my way, and if for some reason they were out, it would have been a REAL aggravating waste of a trip. I decided to play the substitution game, and zucchini it was. They were also supposed to be made in wonton skins, but the health food store only had egg roll wrappers, which I figured were the same thing but bigger. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but they seemed similar enough, and it worked.

They were made with the Sesame-Wasabi dipping sauce from the book, although we were probably a bit too shy with the wasabi...when you have guests you want it to be a crowd pleaser. Since we were using egg roll wrappers, I made one egg roll for each person as well, using the same filling.

For a side dish, we decided on fried rice, although we had to use the sweet rice, since besides sushi and arborio..that was all to be found in the pantry. It was a very "glutinous" version of fried rice, but other than the unique texture, very good. I made it simple, with zucchini, onion, eggs, and soy sauce, and I'm glad to report it soaked up the extra wonton sauce well too.

Last but not least, I made some ginger pickled carrots for a light side. These were boiled in a combination of water, rice vinegar, sugar, and minced garlic for about 20 minutes. After that they were relocated to the freezer for a quick chill, before joining the meal.

Because they weren't chilled very long they were more "sweet" than "pickled" but still a very successful snack.

I must say I really love making Asian inspired food..it's just such a fun flavor profile, although I am supposed to be on my "less soy-sauce kick"

Selah.