Week 1 -- June 4th

Hello, readers! I am back and have my first recipe for you!

The picture above is of my first CSA share. It contained: salad, hakurai turnips, spring onions, sugar snap peas and bok choy. It had exactly what I was looking for; there were some items familiar and known to be delicious (salad and snap peas) and some unfamiliar ( bok choy and turnips). I ate the familiar raw and as snacks. There is nothing quite as wonderful as fresh pea pods. 

The onions I still haven't used ( at risk of being wasteful) because neither the husband nor I really like them. I have an issue with the texture, but I know more will come as the season goes on, so I am searching out ways to use them. My sister has suggested pureeing them. We will see what I come up with. 

And now to the main feature of this post --- BOK CHOY! This is a veggie that if youn asked me what it even looked like before I got this box, I would have had no clue. Being thus completely clueless, I asked for some help. My wonderful, personal chef friend recommended this recipe: Spicy Beef with Shrimp and Bok CHOY

She made it the week before and told me to use the whole head ( is that what it is called?), stalks and all. I used the recipe pretty much exactly, but with one big change. I don't eat much seafood, so I left out the shrimp. It could be a good addition and dimension to those who like it. 

The bok choy was easy to use. It is a little hard to wash thoroughly, but I would recommend cutting off the bottom of the bunch, then washing out any dirt that collected there. 

Here is the result:

I poured (dumped?) mine over rice. I bought rice noodles, but my timing, as always in cooking, was off. I was delicious anyway. 

My verdict about bok choy: I like the mild flavor. It was a good addition without overpowering the whole stir fry. I was a little disturbed by how much it looks like, but doesn't taste like, celery. The flavor most reminded me of pea pods (which is probably why I liked it so much in stir fry). 

I love bok choy and I can't wait to try it in more recipes. It was the first new veggie I tried, and definitely started this whole experiment off with a bang! If you have a favorite bok choy recipe, please share! 

Next post: the saga of the turnip --- coming soon!