When the weather is cold, I turn to hearty chilis and stews to warm up.  I'm also lazy. And stews and chilis are wonderful one-pot meals loaded with meat, beans and lots of veggies! This recipe has no actual heat (spiciness) so who knows if it should still be called a chili. Feel free to enlighten me on this in the comments. Regardless, if you are unlike me and have no young children to worry about, by all means add a tsp of chili flakes when the turmeric goes into the pot.

Authentic Shanghai style dumplings filled with pork and bok choy, my favorite kind of dumplings! Recipe with step-by-step pictures.

This is an essential weeknight recipe that I default to again and again because it is so easy to prepare and because of how much my girls love them!  Think 4 ingredients, 15 prep time, 25 mins bake time. There is no reason to buy packaged nuggets ever. EVER.  I also make this recipe regularly with ground turkey with wonderful results too but of course it will be a tad less juicy. I always make a double-batch and freeze a portion of uncooked nuggets for future school lunches.

Apr 2017:  I have added gluten/grain-free AND dairy-free alternatives.  Hurray!  Nuggets for everyone! 

Lion’s Head Meatballs is a very traditional Chinese dish featuring large pork meatballs and leafy greens. This is a family recipe passed down from my Shanghainese grandmother, which always uses bok choy. The big fluffy meatball represents a lion's head and the surrounding leafy greens, its mane. Don't you love the fanciful name? Just as much to love is the dish itself, a mainstay comfort meal to be certain.