Oh Boy! Bok Choy!

Looking for a new green vegetable to add to your arsenal?  Try Bok Choy.  This member of the cabbage family originated in China and therefore is frequently used in stir-fry.  1 cup is packed with 100% of your daily value for Vitamin A and C.  Just like the darker greens such as kale and collards, BC also contain high amounts of vitamin K and folate.

According to my Flavor Bible, Bok Choy pairs well with ginger, rice, sesame oil, and soy sauce.  But it also goes with other green vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, snow peas, and zucchini; as well as with any meat, fish, poultry, and nuts.

Lucky for me, I just happened to buy bok choy and snow peas at the farmer's market last sunday.  Not because I like it... until now I've only eaten bok choy 2 maybe 3 times.  When I tried stir frying it, it just tasted like watery, tasteless cabbage or celery.  But being the dietitian that I am, I decided to revisit this nutritious vegetable.  Many parents out there know it takes trying a new food 10-20 times before we learn to like it.

Since It cooks so quickly, I save my BC for Thursday night supper: Stir-Fry BC with broiled Tuna Steaks.  I mostly followed the basic stirfry/braise method used by a lot of recipes.  For flavor I used grated ginger and 2 grated garlic cloves, a little soy sauce, sesame oil, fresh sliced basil, and a little sriracha .  I didn't add any extra liquid since they wilted down nicely and I didn't want to dilute the seasonings.  Unfortunately, even with the added herbs, ginger, etc... they still seemed to just be tasteless, or unexciting.  Alas, still not a hit on my list.  Also, I forgot to take a picture before we ate it, sorry.

While Bok Choy might be native to China, I tried to find other flavor profile/recipes for people who aren't so keen on the soy-sauce, ginger, garlic combinations typically seen when cooking this vegetable.  I think I'll try making a salad or a soup with BC in the future, this stir fry business just isn't working for me.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Baby-Bok-Choy-with-Garlic-240548

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Braised-Baby-Bok-Choy-103970

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/5-ways-with-bok-choy/

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/bok-choy-10-healthy-facts

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/grilled-bok-choy-salad-recipe.html

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=380591

http://greenearthinstitute.org/index.php?main_page=document_general_info&products_id=1759

http://blog.sanuraweathers.com/2010/03/stir-fry-bok-choy-shrimp-and-peanuts-over-coconut-rice/

http://eatandrelish.com/2013/08/28/not-like-grandma-used-to-make-chicken-noodle-soup-with-baby-bok-choy-snow-peas-and-rice-noodles-in-a-ginger-garlic-and-lemon-broth/