| Bok choy is a leafy vegetable belonging to the | | | | and place them, with the leaves, in a casserole dish. |
| cabbage family. Long familiar to Chinese cooks, and | | | | Add a little water, cover the dish, and zap in the |
| to those who love Chinese food, it is showing up in a | | | | microwave for 2 minutes. Remove just the leaves |
| wide variety of other types of dishes. In fact, in any | | | | from the dish and zap the stems for 3 more minutes. |
| recipe in which you would normally use cabbage, you | | | | Season both the leaves and the stems with butter, |
| can probably use bok choy.Nowadays bok choy can | | | | salt and pepper and serve it all together.The most |
| be found in most local supermarkets the year around. | | | | common way to cook bok choy is to stir fry it, in a |
| You might find it spelled as "bak choi" or | | | | wok or a regular frying pan. Tear or cut the leaves |
| even "paak choi," but "bok | | | | and stems and place in the pan, add three |
| choy" seems to have become the preferred | | | | tablespoons of water, and begin heating (use a |
| form in North America. Less commonly, it will go | | | | medium setting) as you stir. Add some cooking oil |
| under a different name altogether; Chinese mustard | | | | into which you have strained some fresh garlic. |
| cabbage, for example.Just as with other green leafy | | | | Remove the leaves at the two-minute mark and |
| vegetables, you should look for plants that are free | | | | continue stir frying the stalks for three additional |
| of brown spots and that have firm stalks. The stalks | | | | minutes.After cooking, but before serving, drizzle a |
| themselves will be white in color; the leaves a darkish | | | | little soy sauce or sesame oil over the bok choy.You |
| green.Bok choy is wonderfully nutritious. It is low in | | | | can also include bok choy in a more robust stir fry, |
| calories--about a dozen in the usual serving. It is also | | | | one that contains shrimp or chicken perhaps, along |
| bursting with vitamins A and C. In fact, you could get | | | | with bean sprouts, snow peas and other |
| nearly all of your recommended daily allowance of | | | | Chinese-restaurant type ingredients.My main |
| the latter in one serving of bok choy, and about a | | | | suggestion for bok choy? Experiment! Really, it's hard |
| third of your RDA of the former.Bok choy is an easy | | | | to go wrong with this versatile vegetable in the |
| plant to prepare. Just give it a good rinsing first and | | | | kitchen.Sarah Sandori is the food and entertaining |
| you can munch it raw for a healthy afternoon snack, | | | | columnist for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium. |
| or chop it up and add it to a salad.Need a quick side | | | | Have you ever wanted to be able to exactly |
| dish to a main meal? French-cut the stems into pieces | | | | duplicate a favorite dish from a favorite restaurant? |