Every Spring we cast aside our frozen and canned, grocery purchased veggies, in trade for a fresh, delicious, local, and nutritious share in agriculture. This is our third season, so before I even got the first harvest list, my mind was churning with how I was going to use what I knew from previous experience, would be a wealth of lush greens, and earthy root vegetables. Had this been our first pick-up, however, I might have been a little overwhelmed, and lost at how to use the whole share, how to cook it up, and how to decrease my overall grocery bill. Therefore, I would like to use this blog to help some newcomers learn some of these things. I will begin (I think) by posting the recipes of the meals I cook using our CSA share. If I can keep that up, then I might start posting meal plans and grocery lists, as well... we'll see... for those who know what "searching for vines" means, they know what might become of my intentions :)
So here we go!
Stir-Fry with Pak Choi and Green Garlic
Stir-fries are one of my favorite things to do with my CSA veggies for many reasons, but to name name a few:
1. It's quick
2. You can use several vegetables all in one dish
3. You can eat it with chopstick's, and that just makes any meal fun!
I got the base recipe for the sauce from this link: Sauce II for Stir-Fry Vegetables, but as I tend to change every recipe I get my hands on, my version is below.
Ingredients
Sauce:
2 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic
about 1 Tbsp microplaned ginger root
The other stuff:
2-3 Tbsp of high-heat oil (I used grapeseed)
1 bunch of pak choi, washed, coarse chopped, and stems separated from the greens
3 stalks of green garlic, chopped
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
handful of snow peas (optional)
4 ounces udon noodles, cooked according to package directions
sesame seeds for garnish
First, get your veggies ready to go. Wash 'em, chop 'em, set 'em aside.
I would like to take a moment to sing the praises of the salad spinner. Yes, your vegetables from the farm might have dirt (gasp!) on them. The salad spinner is the quickest and most though way I've found to wash greens (and just about any other vegetable for that matter). Fill the spinner with greens and water, agitate, drain, repeat, then spin. Voila! Clean greens!
Next, mix up your sauce ingredients. Start with the cornstarch, add a splash of broth, whisk with a fork until the cornstarch is smooth, then add the rest of the broth and the other sauce ingredients. Set aside.
Hint: Keep ginger root in the freezer for just such occasions as these. Nothing beats fresh grated ginger in stir-fry!
Now is the time to cook your noodles if you haven't already done so. You can also serve your stir-fry over rice, too, if you prefer, but manage your time accordingly, remembering that white rice takes 20 minutes to cook and brown rice a whopping 50. Set your carb of choice aside when you're done.
So, while your noodles are boiling, put some oil in your fry pan and heat it up over medium-high heat. I don't like to use my nonstick skillet for stir-fry. I like my veggies crisp, and since my nonstick can't take the heat (no pun intended) the veggies tend to get soggy when I use it, so I don't. Also, I know olive oil is super-healthy, but... don't use it for stir-fry. It has a low smoke point, and should you dare it over med-high heat, you might end up with flames... I speak from experience. Grapeseed and coconut oil are two of my favorites for high-heat uses. You can use canola too, I just don't because I try to avoid genetically modified stuff.
Ok, ready? Here we go. Green garlic and pak choi stems go first. Stir constantly with wooden spoon for a minute or two. Add mushrooms and snow peas. Again, stir a minute or two.
Next, add the greens. They'll take up the whole pan, but don't worry, they'll cook down. Stir them until they wilt. This will only take a couple minutes.
Next, stir your sauce, and add it to the pan. Stir about five minutes. This particular sauce is very soupy, so don't expect it to become gravy-like. I was a little iffy about that, at first, but it turned out to be the perfect sauce for noodles!
Enjoy!
Oh... and if you went to the trouble to open a new bottle of wine for the sauce... waste not. It pairs nicely with the meal ;)
Yay, Michelle! That sounds delicious. You made me hungry!
ReplyDeleteHooray! Here you are!! I have to say I have been slightly obsessively checking your blog to see if you had posted anything yet. Well worth the wait. I have been going back and forth on whether or not to sign up for our local CSA. We are planning a large garden this year and I don't want to be over run with seasonal produce. Any thoughts? I can also get local produce at a local grocery store.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah and this looks fantastic! Instead of eating one veggie meal a week, we have been eating one meat meal a week, so I am always looking for new recipes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support, ladies!
ReplyDeleteJeni- If your own garden is meeting your family's needs, then stick to that and supplement with local produce. My own gardening endeavors usually end in disaster, so if it were up to me to feed my own family, we might starve. That being said, I think everyone should TRY to grow some of their own produce, and keeping farming small, and in that spirit, I get up and try gardening again each time it flops. Eventually, I will succeed! ... and when I do I'll blog it :)