As far as Brad is concerned, they are the only potstickers worth eating – why even bother, he asks I, on the other hand, have yet to find a filling for these fried little dumplings that I don’t like, so I occasionally play with alternatives. This is, currently, my favorite alternative.

If the Pork & Ginger Apple potstickers taste like autumn, these ones taste like spring. The ingredients are fairly simple: crisp green onions and peas accompanied by sautéed spinach and mushrooms. The bright flavors of the onions and peas are balanced out by the dark, earthy spinach and, my favorite, mushrooms sautéed in butter and soy sauce.

Though the filling is mixed, the tedious (and somewhat off-putting) aspect of potstickers lies ahead: assembly. Though it’s not difficult to create these little pouches with a frilly, folded edge, it does take some time and is usually the reason I only make potstickers as a treat rather than a weeknight meal. However, because they freeze so nicely, putting the effort in for a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon can result in multiple super-quick weeknight meals from the freezer.

Plus, folding your potstickers be a simple or as complex as you like. When I first started, I just folded them over and squashed the edges together. I’ve seen fancy ones at restaurants with TONS of folds that must have been created by people with less chubby fingers than me. These days, I like my six-fold method, which provides makes them nice and pretty but also helps the bottom stay nice and flat for a larger crisping area.

Suddenly, after working six at a time, you’ll have a whole army of perfect little pouches.

At this point, you can freeze the potstickers for future quick dinners. Or, you can cook them by crisping the bottom, steaming the dumplings, and then re-crisping the bottom again before serving.

The resulting potstickers are delightfully springy. You could certainly put all the ingredients in a food processor if you want a smoother texture, but I like the contrast between the bright, crisp peas and the soft, salty mushrooms. You can also mix up the ingredients, if you like. Prefer edamame instead of peas Tofu instead of mushrooms They’re quite flexible.

Happy spring dining!

Sweet Pea & Mushroom Potstickers

Makes about 48 potstickers

2 c frozen or fresh peas
1 bunch scallions
1 pound white mushrooms
2 T unsalted butter
2 T soy sauce
1 tsp freshly-grated ginger
4 oz fresh spinach
40-50 dumpling wrappers
canola or vegetable oil
chicken stock
soy sauce for dipping

Pour peas into a large mixing bowl (if using fresh peas, blanch peas and drain thoroughly before adding to the bowl). Chop scallions and add them to the bowl. Slice mushrooms, then wash and pat dry spinach.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add butter, mushrooms, soy sauce, and ginger. Sauté until mushrooms have cooked down and are nicely browned. Pour the mushrooms into the mixing bowl and return the pan to the stove, reducing the heat to medium. Add spinach and toss until it cooks down to be quite wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach tot he mixing bowl and mix all ingredients well.

To form the potstickers, work in batches of no more than 6-8 at a time to prevent the wrappers from drying out. Place about two tablespoons of filling on each wrapper. You’ll want enough filling that the pouch will seem like it almost won’t close, but not so much that it doesn’t close. Dip your finger in a small bowl of water and wet the edge of the wrapper all the way around.

Fold the edges together to form a half moon shape by making a small fold in the front flap and pressing that fold against the back flap between your thumb and finger. Create another fold to the right of that and press against the back flap, and then another. Repeat with three more folds down the other side so that the entire pouch is sealed. You can daub additional water onto the wrapper if needed. Place completed potstickers on a cookie sheet and cover with a cloth to prevent the edges from drying out. Continue until all filling is used.

To cook the potstickers, heat a sauté that has a lid over medium heat. Add just enough oil to the pan to cover the bottom and heat until the oil glistens. Add the potstickers to the pan (as many as can comfortably fit with a bit of space in between) with the frilly seam facing up. Allow potstickers to cook without moving them for 3-4 minutes or until the bottom is golden-brown and crisp to the touch. Add 1/4 chicken stock to the pan and quickly add the lid. Steam the potstickers for 2 minutes.

Remove the lid and cook for one additional minute so the bottoms of the potstickers crisp back up. Remove to a serving tray and repeat with remaining potstickers. You may need to add more oil between each batch.

Serve immediately with soy sauce. You can jazz up the soy sauce a bit by adding a pinch of garlic, ginger, or red pepper if you like.

To Freeze: If you want to freeze your potstickers, freeze them before you cook them by laying them on a cookie sheet so they are not touching and freeze until solid. Then place them all in a freezer-safe plastic bag and store. To cook, use the same sear/steam/sear instructions as above, though you may need an extra minute of steaming.

After a lengthy winter (for usually balmy Durham), the recent arrival of warm weather has caused a SURGE of greens in my garden. I was a bit over-zealous in March when I planted spring crops (er twelve Romaine plants and six spinach), and now, I can frequently be seen toting bags of freshly-picked lettuce to work and bequeathing it to friends willing to eat a lot of salad. Combined with the arrival of everything fresh at the farmers market, I have to exercise a lot of control to make sure I’m using up these greens before they go to waste. I tire of salads quickly, so I thought I’d try a different take.

In a move that surprised me, the staunch supporter of cheese pizza with as few toppings as possible, this flatbread pizza has almost nothing on it except vegetables. I coupled a large wad of my most recent harvest of spinach leaves with some young onions and green garlic, two ingredients I rarely work with but was curious to explore.

And because I couldn’t quite bring myself to omit cheese entirely, just a bit of asiago, which is ever the friend of garlic-y, onion-y things.

Though the toppings were mostly unfamiliar to me, the process for transforming them into  a meal is much the same as most pizzas and flatbreads I make. Rolled out dough, something saucy (olive oil in this case), and some really satisfying sprinkling of ingredients to form a mosaic of color and texture. Truly, I love the look of a raw pizza.

While I was a bit nervous to try it at first, I was pleasantly surprised. The onion and garlic give this pizza a wonderful bite, and it’s a great way to use up bounties of spring spinach. And though it’s really more like a flatbread than a pizza in my mind (the internet seems very confused on the definition) due to the small amount of cheese, I wouldn’t even increase it.

Which may be the first time I’ve ever said this pizza has just enough cheese.

First time for everything, right?

Spring Greens Flatbread Pizza

makes one 12-14″ flatbread

one batch pizza dough
1 T + 2 T olive oil
2 c fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped and lightly packed
2 spring onions, whites and greens
2 stalks green garlic
2/3 c grated asiago cheese
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425°F. Prepare pizza dough as instructed. While dough raises after mixing, trim the stems off of the spinach leaves and chop roughly. Thinly chop the whites of the onions. Chop the onion greens until you have about 1/2 cup. Thinly chop the whites of the green garlic and chop a bit more to form small pieces.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan. Add the spinach and whites of the onions to the pan and toss for about three minutes until spinach is lightly wilted. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Roll out dough on a floured surface and transfer to a cutting board sprinkled with corn meal. Spread remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the surface of the dough. Top with spinach & onion mixture, green garlic, grated asiago, and onion greens. Sprinkle black pepper over the entire flatbread.

Bake flatbread on a pizza stone (or fake it!) for 10-12 minutes until edges have browned. Slice and serve immediately.

I have a really bad habit of planning my weekends too much. I always make a list full of more than I can possibly do, gradually shifting things to later in the week as the impossibility of my plans becomes clear.

But every once in a while, one of the items on those lists turns into a relaxing, inspiring, reflective endeavor with delicious results. As with this frittata.

My initial impulse to make this crowd-worthy breakfast came from a delightful alliance of ingredients currently in season. “Egg season” (yes, there is one) has begun here in the Carolinas, and every week I see more and more vendors with teetering piles of egg crates on the corners of their tables.

In addition to the chickens laying more eggs, spring greens are everywhere. I picked up a bag of deep green spinach leaves and a bunch of green onions to play along with the eggs. And a block of brined feta completed the set.

Frittata is, basically, a thin quiche that cooks quickly and has no crust. There are endless variations to this lovely breakfast. The key is to make sure you have a frying pan that can be used stove-top and in the oven.

First, the spinach and onions are sautéed until the spinach has wilted, but not to the point that it’s a stringy goopy mess. Only a few minutes go by before it’s time to add the eggs.

As you pour the eggs into the hot pan, those that hit the bottom first will immediately begin to cook. As that process starts, the feta is sprinkled on top. After a few minutes, the edges will start to firm and lighten in color as they cook, and into the oven it goes.

Now I’ve talked about broiling on this site before: it doesn’t take much to burn the hell out of something under 500°F. Though this dish spent about eight minutes in the oven, I still spent the majority of that time staring at it through the oven window. It was cool to watch, as at that heat I could actually watch the egg cooking, but it also made sure that I didn’t get distracted doing something else and open the oven to blackened eggs. Those minutes of inaction, sitting on my kitchen floor watching eggs cook, were worth it.

This frittata is fluffy and filling, and the union of flavors from the spicy onions and creamy eta is truly lovely.

I wish more mornings could be so satisfying. Cooking breakfast, listening to music, and watching the snow fall during a surprising bout of winter weather. I almost didn’t want to cross this one off my list.

Spinach, Scallion, & Feta Frittata

1 T butter
3 oz fresh spinach leaves, washed & patted dry
4 scallions
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
6 eggs
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch sea salt

Preheat oven on the broiler setting. Roughly chop spinach leaves and remove large, stiff stems. Chop the whites & greens of the scallions. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk for 3-4 minutes. Add the black pepper and salt to the eggs and whisk a minute or so more.

Heat a 10-inch oven-safe frying pan over medium heat. Add butter and tilt the pan until butter coats the bottom. Cook spinach for 2-3 minutes until it has wilted and collapsed in size. Add scallions and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Pour in egg mixture and quickly stir so the spinach and scallions are evenly distributed. From this point on, do not stir the mixture. Sprinkle the feta evenly over the top of the eggs.

Once the edges of the frittata are cooked (they’ll be lighter in color and look solid), place the frying pan on a middle rack in the oven. Broil for 6-10 minutes, watching it VERY closely. Stay focused: the frittata will quickly burn if left under the broiler for too long. Once the frittata is starting to turn golden-brown and is puffing up, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. The frittata will flatten a bit during this time. Cut the frittata into six wedges and serve immediately.

Brad left North Carolina this time last week for his summer internship in O-HI-O. Merh. I certainly have enough going on to keep myself entertained this summer in his absence but I must confess: it’s a lot of fun to cook when he’s around. Why Because nine times out of ten, he loves my food. And who doesn’t enjoy gushing compliments over something you just cooked?

But as I said, he’s in Ohio, crashing with one of his college roommates for the next three months, and as he is not quite the local-food-new-recipe-must-cook-cause-its-fun person that I am, I suspect his daily bread will not be made from scratch, if you catch my drift.

I, on the other hand, see no reason why I won’t continue to cook like I usually do (like an manic-foodie-control-freak), and this dish is a prime example.

You just can’t ignore the opportunity to make something amazing when you discover that something you’ve long-considered a thoroughly “exotic” food is in fact available at your farmers market. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the weekly market newsletter heralded their arrival.

Artichokes can, however, be kind of a bear to prepare. I grew up eating them exclusively the easy way: one leaf at a time until the heart was reached. But using them in a recipe Extracting the tender pulp that I normally obtain with my teeth I consulted the internet, but was honestly intimidated by the techniques recommended. Artichoke season here is short, and there is a clamor for them at the market. It’s extremely possible I won’t be lucky enough to get any more this season, so I decided not to risk anything and prepared them exactly the way my dad taught me to years ago: wrapped in plastic wrap, microwaved, and then peeled apart leaf by leaf.

I’ll be honest, this took a long time. If you’re looking to make this dip in a jiffy, you may wanna just go with canned artichoke hearts. But oh, the fresh ones are so. amazingly. good. And once I got through the first one, the process sped up.

The result was, not particularly attractive But let not looks deceive you: it was all I could do not to eat this by the spoonful before it resembled a dip.

But that’s not all! The last of my spring spinach was fresh off the plant, so I chopped it up so it would play with the artichokes.

And then the cheese. Always the cheese.

Once I (finally) had everything scraped/chopped/grated, the dip came together in a snap.

This photo isn’t winning any contests. Doesn’t the artichoke look like canned chicken Gross. Let’s add some cheese to make it feel better.

That’s more like it. At this point I could hardly keep myself from grabbing some chips and going to town, but I wanted to give these little dippers a golden finish. A final sprinkle of asiago and a blast under the broiler made these dips everything I wanted and more: warm, creamy, and full of fresh local vegetables and decadent cheeses. On a chip, of course!

Fresh Spinach Artichoke Dip
Adapted liberally from Alton Brown

4-5 medium artichokes (or 2 c canned artichoke hearts, drained)
3 c chopped fresh spinach, loosely packed
1-2 T olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 c parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/2 c asiago, finely grated
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c Greek yogurt
1-2 T milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne

Rinse artichokes under cold water and shake dry. Slice off the very end of the stem to remove any dry, brown area. Wrap each artichoke in plastic wrap and microwave each for 3-5 minutes, depending on their size. Carefully remove with oven mitts (they are superhot) and remove plastic wrap. Set artichokes aside for a few minutes to cool.

While artichokes are cooling, remove stems from the spinach. Roughly chop spinach leaves into pieces about an inch wide. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-low heat. Once pan is hot, add spinach and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until spinach has softened, stirring often. Remove pan from heat, leaving the spinach in it.

This is also a good time to grate your parmesan and asiago!

Once the artichokes have cooled to the touch, remove the tough, small leaves from the stem and discard. You will then have to discard about one layer of leaves from the base of the artichoke before you get to the softer leaves. Peel all leaves from artichoke, scooping the tender edible part from the base of each leaf with a spoon and placing it in a bowl. Discard the tough portion of the leaf. Once all leaves have been peeled and you reach the fuzzy center, gently scrape the fuzz out of the heart with a spoon onto your discard pile. Add the heart to the bowl with the scrapings you’ve collected from the leaves. Continue with remaining artichokes until you have about two cups. Roughly chop up scrapings and hearts into small pieces.

Preheat your oven broiler to high. Place the frying pan with the spinach back onto medium heat and add remaining olive oil to the pan. Add artichokes to the pan and stir well, cooking for 1-2 minutes. Add cream cheese in small dollops and stir constantly, allowing the cream cheese to melt. Add parmesan, 1/4 of asiago (set the rest aside), mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, milk, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and sea salt and mix thoroughly until cheeses have melted. Remove from heat. Transfer dip to one shallow baking dish or two smaller ramekins and sprinkle remaining asiago over the top. Place dish(es) under broiler for 4-5 minutes or until cheese has browned slightly and formed a bubbling crust.

Serve hot with tortilla chips or crispy baguette slices. Dip can also be refrigerated and re-heated later!