One Bunch of Bok Choy

A Prayer for the ones we love.  It was 24 hours of worry but all is well.  😀 

When I dragged myself  from the comfort beneath the covers, everyone else was snoozing happily.  Shane doesn’t even get up with me anymore.  He waits for a little cuddle and belly scratch at the top of the stairs before I go down,  then closes his eyes and goes back to sleep until Ted gets up. 

The treadmill looked awfully energetic this morning.  The Elliptical, a tad more relaxed.  But I took the bull by the horns, hopped on the T/M and pumped out 3.25 miles.  My shoulder started hurting HORRIBLY after about 10 minutes. I had to keep adjusting my arm position.  It went away as soon as I stopped running, but that was a good 20 minutes of agony.

The legs heard the morning call. It was 35 minutes of  presses, hack squats, deadlifts, lunges, extensions, curls, and calf raises.   

The temperature gage indicated a cool, crisp 48 degrees when we went out for a 38 minute trek around Valley View Restaurant.   Not a bad workout.  Wednesday should be easy – no early morning rising because we are going to The Fair!  New York State Fair – here we come!

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What about Bok Choy?

I like Bok Choy.

Up until about 2 years ago, I never paid any attention to it in the store because I didn’t know what it was or how it tasted or even how to prepare it.  Since I’ve become much more “daring” with my cooking concoctions, Bok Choy has made several appearances to our dinner table.  

I like the crispy ends.  In order to enjoy them, I cut off the really dirty thickest part of the bok choy “root” and slice the other white part into smaller pieces. 

 I cook those white pieces in boiling water for about 8 minutes just to slightly tenderize.  

The green leafy part, which when all is said and done, there isn’t  much left, is tender and doesn’t need much cooking. I don’t find it as bitter as some of the other leafy vegetables so I don’t boil it, I simply saute it with the tenderized white parts.

After the white roots of the bok choy have boiled for 8 minutes, they are drained and pat dry with a paper towel.  **When I saute a vegetable after boiling, I always try to get as much water from it as possible. If there is water left on it, the item will simply “steam” and not brown when sauteed or fried. **  Heat 1 TBS olive oil in a saute pan and, when hot, add the boiled white root chunks and 1/2 of a chopped onion.  Let them cook for about 5 minutes on medium high.  The chopped green, leafy ends are then added with 1 tsp Chile paste, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp soy sauce, a little salt and some fresh ground black pepper.  The mixture is cooked about 10 more minutes and ….Wallah!   A vegetable dish is served!

Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite vegetable? How about a favorite way to prepare a not so popular vegetable to make your family enjoy it?