More half-cooking: chili soy succotash with potstickers

Given the warm response to the last half-cooking post, I figure I have to follow with another. Today's chili soy succotash is a dish that I learned from my dad and it's so easy that it's my go-to dish whenever I'm most crunched for time but want to get in some veggies. It also pairs nicely with meaty quick-cooking items like potstickers.

Quick Tips

• Tip 6: Use frozen vegetables. They store well and are much lower in sodium (usually none) compared to canned vegetables. Sometimes they're even fresher than what you find in the produce aisle because they're flash-frozen right after picking.
• Tip 7: Use sauces and ingredients that are easy to store and pack lots of flavor. (e.g. soy sauce and chili garlic sauce are staples of East-Asian cooking)
• Tip 8: Store your commonly used oils and sauces in easy-pour containers with spouts. These are great for storing stuff like vegetable oil and make it much easier to control the amount you add to the pan.
• Tip 9: Keep bags of easy to cook items like dumplings/potstickers or ravioli in the freezer. When you're in a rush, it's easy to build a meal around one of these.

Today's half-cooking recipe:

Chili Soy Succotash

Active prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 5-10 min

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 coarsely minced shallot (you can use the same technique used for an onion
• 2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed*
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed*
• 1/2 cup frozen or fresh diced red pepper*
• 1-2 tbsp soy sauce (adjust depending on taste)
• 1/2-1 1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce (adjust depending on spice preference/tolerance)

* So, once again you'll see my Trader Joe's bias here (really, they don't pay me for this). TJ's sells all the veggie ingredients (minus the shallot) in one convenient and cleverly named "Soycutash" bag in the frozen aisle. If you can get that - just cut open the bag and empty the ingredients in step 3 below.

Directions

(a little prior to making the dish, take the frozen vegetables out to thaw)
1. Heat a large pan on medium-high heat and add oil.
   
2. When oil starts to smoke and shimmer, add the minced shallot. Sauté the shallot in the oil until the pieces start to turn translucent.
   
3. Add the frozen vegetables and sauté until the vegetables are cooked through.
   
4. Turn off the heat, add the soy sauce and chili garlic sauce and toss to coat.
   

You can prep the frozen potstickers in parallel to save time. Most potstickers come with instructions on the package, and the exact quantities and timing vary depending on the size of the potstickers and pan, but it generally goes like this: heat the pan and add enough oil to cover it in a thin layer, brown the potstickers for a few minutes and then add a little water and cover to steam until the potstickers are fully cooked.

And that's it for another yummy quick meal!