Like many of the vegetables we grow, the bok choy that comes in our CSA shares is much larger and fuller than what you might see in the store. The main variety we have been harvesting this year has large white stalks and vibrant green leaves. The leaves and stems cook at a different rate, so I’ve been separating them and treating them each as their own vegetables. In this easy sauté the stems are cooked down with hot peppers and then the leaves are added to wilt at the end. Speaking of hot peppers have you checked out our handy guide to hot peppers? We grow a big variety in our high tunnels and during weeks that we have hot peppers you’ll receive a few small peppers in your share. Just enough to flavor a dish!
I also added half of a sweet Italian Roasting Pepper, these beautiful red peppers are so flavorful! If you can’t take too much heat, just skip the hot peppers and use a whole sweet pepper. The light green Hungarian Wax Peppers cooked down to be nice and mild, I added a minced, de-seeded serrano for a nice spicy dish. Hot peppers can really vary in heat – try carefully tasting a small bit (press your finger into the cut side to taste) to see how much of the pepper you’ll want to use. Removing the seeds significantly reduces the heat and leaving them in significantly increases it, so proceed with caution! Once you get the hang of cooking with spicy peppers, it really is fun (and tasty!), just start out a little at a time. You can always add more.
Fresh chopped garlic will round out the flavors nicely, I used two cloves. Just cook the bok choy like you would any stir-fry. I started with the hot and sweet peppers as a base, then cooked the stems down with soy sauce, and wilted the leaves with soy sauce and maple syrup. Finish with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and rice vinegar. Serve over udon noodles or brown rice.
Sweet & Spicy Bok Choy
1 large head bok choy, washed
1/2 sweet pepper, thinly sliced
1 hungarian wax pepper, thinly sliced
as much small minced serrano pepper as you like
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce (shoyu or GF tamari) divided
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
Separate green leaves and thick white stems of the bok choy. Rinse stalks again if necessary. Chop stalks into 3 inch lengths, then think slice. Finely chop leaves. Heat canola oil over medium high heat. Add peppers and garlic, sauté for about two minutes. Add bok choy stalks and one tablespoon soy sauce. Cook for two minutes, stirring frequently. Add bok choy leaves, and remaining ingredients. Cook, stirring constantly until greens are wilted. Serve with rice or udon noodles.
