Bok Choy, Baby

If you're a blogger, and I read your blog, you probably influence me in some small way. Whether it's dusting off The Shred, running better and more, or cooking up some interesting foods, this lady takes to heart a lot of what you all have to say.


So, it should come as no surprise, that after reading about Bok Choy yesterday, I looked around for it at the grocery store tonight, and came right home to make/cook it. I live in the South, but I don't "fix" meals ;)


I ran right over the computer to check the recipe, and noticed my error: I bought Big Bok Choy, not Baby Bok Choy. I'm very new to the Bok Choy world, and yes, I had to read all of the labels on the veggies until I found what I was looking for. There didn't seem to be a Baby variety, but I may have missed it somewhere near the micro-greens.


Have no fear! I google recipes all of the time, so I looked up one for cooking Bok Choy and found one that seems to apply to the Big version. They cut theirs into manageable pieces, which, if you notice the bouquet sprouting out of the biggest bowl I own, made a whole lot of sense.


I put a couple of pats of butter in my pan, and stuffed all that I'd cut (about half of the bunch in the bowl) over it. Then I put a few dashes of soy sauce on top. It wilted and shrunk a bit, and when I tried it, I was quite satisfied, but I didn't really want to eat it all alone, so I topped my chicken noodle soup with it.

I was making the soup at the same time the bok choy was cooking because I wanted to use the chicken stock I made with the bones/skin left-over from our pastured chicken. When you spend $16 for a wee-little chicken, you tend to want to make use of all of the parts. I wonder what kind of art project could make use of some bones. Or is that too morbid...

To the stock, I added a can of beans, a bag of frozen peas, a cup or so of pearl onions, a bag of frozen corn, and a couple of cups of hubby's favorite gluten-free noodles. The bok choy on top was a nice addition to my bowl, but I learned a few things from my experience tonight:

• Bok Choy is a choking hazard. It was mentioned in the post I mentioned above, but I didn't take it seriously. Future references to choking on new foods will be respected.
• One person should not try to eat an entire pan of Big Bok Choy. The Baby stuff perhaps, but not the Big kind. Binges aren't only for ice cream. I may remember The Bok Choy Binge for years to come, especially if what I think may happen to my digestive system later tonight actually happens.
• Putting soy sauce (not gluten free) on bok choy is a bad idea in a home where the only other person willing to try said vegetable, is gluten-free. It leads to bok choy bingeing.
• Cats do not care for bok choy.
• Grocery stores sell Big Bok Choy in bunches not suitable for a lone diner.
• The Clean Plate Club membership seems to be a lifetime membership, and is more fun for its members when foods other than bok choy (in astronomical portions) are on the plate.