Chicken Pot Stickers

If you see these little Chinese dumplings on a menu, order them; even in their worst iteration, they trump 90 percent of the other items in the appetizer section. Luckily, making them at home is a 10-minute project and allows you to cut calories and boost nutrition by spiking the dish with mushrooms and snap peas. This works great as an appetizer for four, or you can cut the recipe down and make it a lean mean meal for one.

Serves: 4
Prep:  6 min
Cook: 11 min
Total: 17 min
              
Ingredients
24 frozen pot stickers (chicken, pork, or vegetable)
1 tbsp sesame or peanut oil
4 oz mushrooms (preferably shiitake), stems removed, sliced
2 cups sugar snap or snow peas, tough ends removed
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Sriracha to taste
sesame seeds (optional)
sliced scallions (optional)

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the pot stickers and cook for a few minutes until tender but not gummy. Drain.

2. Heat the oil a large nonstick skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the cooked pot stickers to the pan and cook, undisturbed, until crispy and brown on the bottom, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. In the last minute of cooking, toss in the snap peas and warm through.

3. Remove from the heat, stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, and sriracha. Divide among 4 bowls and garnish with sesame seeds and scallions (if using).

Recipe Notes
Sesame seeds are a top source of magnesium, which help reduce stress and fight high blood pressure.

Nutritional Facts per serving
Calories     191.7 cal
Fat     10.1 g
Saturated fat     2.3 g
Cholesterol     13.3 mg
Sodium     664 mg
Carbohydrates     15.7 g
Total sugars     3.6 g
Dietary fiber     2 g
Protein     10.4 g

Courtesy of the Rodale Healthy Recipe Finder.