Veggie Dumpling Recipe

Note: Sharing with you what happened today. But you may skip reading this part if you wish. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It was a long day. I admit, I haven't been productive enough today but I was in and out of the office due to some obligations I needed to do. Hence, it was still tiring. Going home from work, I was thinking of sleeping early. But I was hungry. I just can't sleep when hungry so I went to the kitchen and saw my mom cooking something I had been wanting to eat since this morning - a veggie dish that's cooked in a different way (for me cause it was my first time to see it) . It was like "lumpiang gulay" in Filipino but she used wonton wrapper instead of the usual wrapper we use for "lumpia." Tempting! I realized I finished the 1st batch of cooked dumpling alone. It was more than 10 pieces. I saw her preparing to cook again another batch for my brother.

My mom's a great cook. She likes cooking, she learned almost everything she cooks when we had a canteen way back. When it closed, she learns other recipes online or she would just create dish depending on what's available in our fridge. Although there were times her dish tastes bland or salty, most of the time, it tastes good and my colleagues love it.

Going back this veggie dumpling, as she calls it, I don't know where she got the recipe but this is one of my favorites now.

My mom added ground pork for the meat lovers in our family (that's actually me). You may add tuna, shrimp or beef, whatever you want. But it's also good without those meat.

Before we end this, let me share with you some health information I got as I was researching about some of the veggies included in this recipe. By the way, if you may notice, this recipe is not under the vegan/vegetarian category since what we had wasn't pure veggie. We used a little ground pork meat for that umami or savory taste. You may opt to remove it or instead of pork you may try ground beef or chopped shrimp.

Going back, let us have some review on some veggie ingredients. First is the turnip. We call it "singkamas." Growing up, I thought it's a fruit and the only way I know how to eat that was to take off the skin then eat as is or dipped in salt or vinegar. This tuber vegetable is not that sweet, not bitter, and is great for snacks. It is low on calorie and is known for its dietary fiber thus it is a great alternative for a full meal especially when you are on a diet. It contains water that is why it is also great in cleansing our body. It is also a rich source of antioxidant, vitamins and minerals essential for our well-being.

Carrots contain beta carotene known as good for the eyes. It is also a good source of fiber and has antioxidant, which is good to prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Baguio pechay or Chinese cabbage (also known as bok choy) is known to contain a lot of nutrients essential for our body. It contains fiber, several vitamins and minerals that helps prevent and/or protect us from having or developing cancer. It is also a good source of calcium and other nutrients essential for our bones to be healthy, to lower down blood pressure and to keep our heart in good shape. It also contains choline that helps with sleep and memory among others. It also contains vitamins and nutrients that are good for our immunity and our skin. Though cabbage was known to contain myrosinase that affects the function of our thyroid, research had it that such component can be deactivated by cooking the vegetable. Nonetheless, people who have been diagnosed of having problem with the thyroid may eat cabbage in moderation.

(I would like to list here where I got those information however, I could not find the exact article. All I know is I got them from the internet. I'll try to check them again and put here my references