Jeff's first comment... Chocolate what?

Always looking for different and fun treats to make, this recipe for Chocolate Salami really caught my eye - although I have to say I did change the name. It was originally called "Divinely Dairy-Free Chocolate Coins"... however, I like our less-wordy version better - call it whatever you like! The only "cooking" at all that happens with this recipe is melting bittersweet chocolate - I did this over a double boiler, but feel free to nuke it on medium in the microwave. Whole raw almonds (skins on please!) are coarsely chopped with a dash of cinnamon in a food processor. Dried black mission figs are added and the mixture is processed until finely chopped. Mixed into the melted chocolate, this is then formed into a long thick roll. As the roll is a little tacky to the touch (not sticky though), it is then coated all over with a very small amount of vanilla sugar. After chilled in the refrigerator, the roll can easily be cut into dense rounds. Nutty and rich, I was afraid you would only be able to taste figs - but each flavor held up on its own. While adding a bit of sweetness to off-set the chocolate, the figs also added a slight crunch. This was a surprisingly delicious, easy and healthy treat!

We doctored up a couple store bought items for tonight's dinner of Pot Stickers and Slaw with Asian Dressing. The original recipe called for a mix of shredded cabbage and carrots, but we prefer the broccoli slaw version that has broccoli, shredded red cabbage, carrots and cauliflower - it is crunchier and we like the variety of flavors. The other store-bought item we had to locate were some veggie pot stickers - I've never had a reason to buy them before, but after a strolling through a couple stores we finally found some at our local natural food co-op called The Common Market that we've mentioned before.

To doctor up the slaw a little, we mixed in fresh cilantro and a green onion - then drizzled it with a sauce made from rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, cilantro, toasted sesame oil and fresh ginger. To tie in the flavor from the sauce, we also go on to crisp up the pot stickers in some more toasted sesame oil. Once browned, we added water and covered them to finish warming them through. For a snappy finish, we quickly cooked sugar snap peas in the same pan until they were crisp-tender. The salty sauce made for a good counterpoint dressing to the slightly bland slaw and a fantastic dipping pool for the vegetable pot stickers. With lots of satisfying crunchy textures all around, I have to say that we quite enjoyed having pot stickers for the first time - we just may have to make our own next time!

Recipes
Chocolate Salami
Pot Stickers and Slaw with Asian Dressing