Teach a boy to cook as a teenager, he'll moan and do it grudgingly, unless he's hungry or in a good mood. But teach a boy to cook, and one day he'll be an adult and be able to cook himself decent, healthy meals on a budget and cook you an awesome meal with his lovely vegan girlfriend. Of all practical skills I taught him, cooking is one he's most grateful for. Whilst their housemate is asking how to cook a mango or being suprised at various vegetables as he's never seen them in any form but chopped an in a meal, they're cooking amazing vegan meals. Whilst my boy isn't strict vegan, he is vegetarian (mostly - dammit, why DO we have these food labels!) and his girl definitely IS vegan, and he's been raised vegetarian so for him, it's natural to experiment with all sorts of vegetables and dishes to make something delicious.

And delicious it was - bibimbap with an entree of gyoza.

The fun thing about this shared entree was that it was vegetarian gyoza, Japanese dumplings, which we sat around and formed ourselves before they were cooked. I'm sure it was because they ran out of time to pre-prepare them, but I do love a communal cook up. They'd already made the filling - a mix of vegetables, tofu and spices and we just had to make the dumplings by putting a spoonful in the centre, wetting the edges and pressing them together.

They were then fried in coconut oil on one side before flipping, adding about .5 centimeter of water to the bottom of the pan with the lid on and steaming, before flipping and frying on the other side. Served with a korean hot chilli paste and some soy sauce (and beer) they were absolutely delicious!

The bibimbap main was also amazing. By that time they'd made me put my camera away. 'Stop paparazzing my food, Mum', my boy joked, knowing full well I intended to steem the affair. Bibimbap is a korean dish which is basically steamed rice with vegetables, meat and egg. Our version, of course, was without meat and egg - instead, with fried tempeh and tofu strips, sauted broccoli and snowpeas, and a big bowl of steamed red cabbage and carrot.

If there's one bit of parenting advice I can give you, is that you have to teach your kids to cook. One day they'll get pleasure out of it, and be able to nourish themselves even when you're not around. It's an important skill to have.

Vegetarian Gyoza

For the filling, finely chop a variety of vegetables - about 6 cups worth. It's important to have them pretty finely chopped. We go for feel for proportions.

Cabbage
Carrot
Spring onion
Garlic
Zucchini
A block of crumbled tofu
Mushrooms

Add a tbsp of turmeric, a large splash of sesame oil and some grated ginger. Stir fry with a splash of water until the vegetables are just tender. Add the crumbled tofu and cool, ready to place into the wrappers.

Then, place a spoonful inside the gyoza wrapper. You can find these at any Asian grocery store. Wet the edges with water, fold over and press down. Fry in a frying pan til brown on one side. Add about a half centimetre of water and steam, making sure they don't go too soggy. Flip and fry on the other side (optional). Enjoy!

Have you ever made vegetarian gyoza?

What's YOUR recipe?

Do YOU teach your kids to cook?

This post was created for #fruitsandveggiesmonday, created by Hive account@lenasveganliving and hosted by Hive account@plantstoplanks. It's an awesome way to share recipes based on a plant based diet and I love checking the tag every Monday for a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. You don't have to be a vegan to join at all karma and there are plenty of meat eaters that enjoy fantastic meals without meat as well. The aim is to promote a healthy diet and celebrate fruits and vegetables without meat or dairy. If you would like to know more please check the contest rules which you can find easily on Hive account@plantstoplanks blog!