Mini wontons make great appetizers!  I decided to make them into a meal!  No-not just eat the whole bag. 😦  Build a meal around the wontons.  I found a chicken and cilantro mini wonton at Costco that is pretty tasty.  I combine it with roasted broccoli and mature carrots.  Top it with a thickened ponzu and garlic chives and I scored a 9.5 from my eldest son (who was thoroughly skeptical of this meal when I described it).  Ian sets a high bar when it comes to food, so I feel pretty good right now. 🙂

On top of being tasty, its fast and easy!  That’s what this blog is all about.  Turn on the oven, cut up the veg while it preheats.  Throw a pot of water onto boil while the veg roasts.  Cook the wontons in just 5 minutes. Make the sauce and throw it all together.  First try–I had it done in less than 45 minutes.  Try it with your favorite roasted veggies.  The combinations are almost limitless!

So whats ponzu?  A citrus based Japanese soy sauce.  Easy to make your own. You can control the sweet to sour ratio with the amount of honey you add.  I wanted it to be a bit thicker than just soy sauce so I added a bit of corn starch and heated it for about 5 minutes on the stove.  Now it lightly coats everything was that citrus tang.  Yummmmmm….

You’ll need: Makes about 4 servings

1 1/2 lbs frozen mini wontons ( I used CJ Foods B!bigo wontons)

Olive oil, salt and pepper, as needed

2 large crowns of fresh broccoli, cut into 1 1/2 inch florets

2 lb mature carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick (I like a bias cut for bigger pieces)

Ponzu Sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

2-3 Tbs lemon juice

1/2 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed Cara Cara’s are especially good here)

1-2 Tbs honey (or more to taste)

1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger paste

1/2 Tbs corn starch

1 Tbs chopped garlic chives (regular chives work here too) for topping

Preheat your oven to 425F.

While the oven heats up, cut your broccoli and carrots to size listed (it helps them to cook in the same amount of time but keep them separated).  Drizzle with oil and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place on 1/2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper (easy to pickup for transfer and fast clean up).  Put the carrots on the top shelf and the broccoli on a lower shelf in the oven.  Roast for about 20-25 minutes until just tender.

Once the veg is in the oven, put a 6-7 quart pan of water onto boil (put the lid on and it will heat up faster).

In a small saucepan, combine your ponzu ingredients and whisk together.  Heat over medium low flame until mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.  Stir for another minute and then remove from heat and set aside.

Once your water is boiling, add your wontons and cook according to the package directions (you could also microwave or pan fry).  Drain water when hot.

Place drained wontons in your serving dish.  Roasted veggies can be added by picking up the parchment paper edges and just pouring them over the wontons.  Pour your ponzo sauce over it all.  Toss slightly to coat and sprinkle with chives.  Enjoy!