Better late than never, right?
I was digging through my freezer last week because I was craving some edamame and I knew I had some in there…way back in the corner where I never dare to look because everything is frozen in a solid block of ice. (They tell me that my freezer is frost-free but I beg to differ.)
When I dug my way out, I had two things in my hands:
A: Aforementioned edamame.
B: These:
I forgot I bought these a while back to try! These Chicken Cilantro Mini Wontons are from the Trader Joe’s freezer section. I always buy random things from the freezer at TJ’s…I can’t help it! When I saw these, I thought they were definitely worth a whirl.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the cooking process…it’s winter time and I hardly have any good natural light on a summer evening, let alone January. And those “daylight” bulbs? Yeah, right.
Anyway.
These were super easy to cook! The package says to heat a tablespoon of cooking oil in a nonstick pan and pan fry the wontons. Because I’m trying to loose a few pounds and all, I chose to spray my nonstick pan liberally with Pam and let ‘er rip. It worked fine! I got a nice little pan-fried crispy mark on each side of the wontons, and then I added a few tablespoons of water to the pan and covered it, letting the wontons steam for a few minutes.
They turned out great!
Here is a little size comparison—you all know how big an edamame pod is, right? Or a blackberry? So you see, they really are “mini” wontons.
Never fear, though! You get quite a few of these little bad boys for a reasonable amount of calories! The package says there are 50 calories in each 4-wonton serving. I didn’t think that was too bad. I would say that 2 of these mini wontons, maybe 3, would equal one regular traditionally-sized potsticker. The thing is, these wontons are not as doughy as a tradtional potsticker, so I think there are some calories saved there.
The ingredients list doesn’t look too bad either!
I had 4 servings of wontons, which is 16 pieces for you math-challenged readers out there…alongside about 2 cups of edamame in the pods, it was a great dinner, and clocked in at 380 calories total. (200 for the wontons, and 180 for the edamame.)
All in all, I would highly recommend these wontons. They are a tasty and pretty healthy alternative to some of the other calorie-bombs you might find in the Chinese food section.
Enjoy!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve had those before and they are really good! I also like the mini chicken tacos from Trader Joe’s.
Jen@FoodFamilyFitness recently posted..It Worked
I just made these last night for dinner for my family. I served them like a stir-fry with whatever veggies I had in the fridge which happened to be: red peppers, yellow peppers, onions, and mushrooms. I made my sauce using diluted Teriyaki sauce, red pepper flakes, & a touch of agave nectar for sweetness and I served it over brown rice. Everyone enjoyed it. Including my little brother who has deplores “healthy” food and the family goal to lead a healthy lifestyle (ironically, he was the first to reach his weight loss goal of 20lbs).