Grilled Dumplings with Spicy Sesame Sauce

This recipe happened because I was actually having a craving for egg rolls. Not spring rolls, not baked rolls, but the crispy fried ones with lots of filling inside. The problem is, when I start with fried things, stopping isn’t always the easiest thing. There’s something totally addictive about crunchy, salty things.

I didn’t want to give up the possibility of my crispy egg rolls, and then it occurred to me ~ it’s summer, why not put them on the grill? But then I couldn’t find any egg-free egg roll wrappers, and was too lazy to make my own, so I decided to go with dumplings. And it went great! These turned out perfectly crispy, with a warm veggie center, and a salty spicy dipping sauce, minus the oiliness of the fried version.

The nice thing about these is that you can customize the filling however you want. This was a nice combination of soft, spicy and crunchy things. The olives were a nice softer addition as well.

Grilled Dumplings with Spicy Sesame Sauce

Makes about 16-20 dumplings.

• 1 package vegan wonton/dumpling wrappers
• 1 cup chopped kale
• 1 large or 2 small carrots, julienned
• 1/2 chopped yellow pepper
• 1/2 package tempeh, marinated in 1/4 cup tamari with a few drops of liquid smoke
• 1/4 cup sliced olives
• grapeseed or melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
• few drops of sesame oil
• hot sauce to taste (I used a couple of teaspoons)

Marinate the tempeh while you’re chopping the veggies. I cut it into small squares, but it would also be good crumbled, and then marinated.

Layer the filling onto the center of the dumpling wrappers. Brush a little bit of water around all 4 edges (you can use your finger), and press them together, squishing down the filling if needed to get them to close well. Make sure all edges are securely together so they don’t open when you put them on the grill.

I used spray coconut oil on both sides of each to make sure they got crispy and didn’t stick to the grill. (It would be very bad for them to stick and spill all the filling out when you try to turn them!)

To make the sauce, whisk together the tamari, sesame oil and hot sauce.

Preheat the grill and cook the dumplings until they start to brown. They cook very quickly ~ mine only needed about 30 seconds per side.

Let cool and enjoy!