Potstickers + Bao: a lesson in veggie love
In honor of Chinese New Year we made delicious vegetarian potstickers, and steamed buns, also known as bao, some of our most popular dishes to date.
One of our goals was to explore how foods some kids were pretty upfront about not liking (mushrooms) become delicious once mixed in with other foods. We converted one brave eater who said "I don't really prefer vegetables" into a veggie potsticker lover.
Our approach is to give space for the kids to talk about what they do and don't like while exploring and preparing the ingredients. And when it comes time to eating, we just give them space to eat, without reminding them of the mushrooms or other offending vegetable, and talk about the potstickers and how they taste.
Making ponzu sauce gave kids time to explore the ways salty, sweet, and sour combine to make something different and can balance each other out. They were able to do almost the whole recipes themselves, other than cooking the ingredients and the potstickers.
You can always make extra potstickers, freeze them on a baking tray and place them in ziplock bags for a healthy fast snack or meal. Just add 3-4 minutes of steaming time to cooking.