How to Incorporate Bok Choy Into Your Diet
Bok Choy is a modern superfood. It has the health benefits of other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, while being more versatile than any of them.
Bok Choy can be eaten raw or cooked, and lends itself to a variety of cuisines. If you are looking to add bok choy into your diet, here are some ideas!
Stir Fries
The most obvious way to add bok choy may also be the most traditional. Bok choy is a chinese vegetable that has been used in stir fry for millennia.
The oldest bok choy found by archaeologists was more than 3500 years old, which means bok choy has been grown in china since before the wok existed. The Chinese have used bok choy year round for as long as stir frying has been around.
Add bok choy to stir fry recipes like any other vegetable. Slice it thin enough that the stalks can cook, and you can separate it from the greens if you would like.
Baby bok choy can be halved or quartered and added into your stir fry in these large cuts for better aesthetics.
Salads
Bok choy can be added to salads a number of ways.
The leaves can be separated from the stalks and added in any place where spinach or other leafy greens would be appropriate. They can be chopped, or added whole.
The stalks can be sliced like celery, or shaved and used in place of cabbage in coleslaws.
Hot Sides
Bok choy really lends itself to hot side dishes.
Bok choy leaves can be used anywhere other greens would work. This could be anything from quick wilted spinach to southern style collards with ham. Different greens take different amounts of time, so you just have to watch the cook times to get the desired results.
You can replace brussels sprouts with bok choy. Use halved baby bok choy instead of brussels in roasted or sauteed brussels sprouts recipes.
You can saute chopped up bok choy in soy and other asian seasonings to serve alongside roast pork or poultry.
Smoothies
This is one of the more controversial ways to use bok choy, but it is a great way to introduce this superfood into your diet.
Use bok choy in any of your kale smoothie recipes. It adds a unique peppery note, something like arugula.
Bok choy does have a much higher water content than other greens, so you will need to account for this in your ratios of fruit to liquid, but it has a ton of fiber and vitamins.
Pair bok choy with dark berries and other strongly flavored fruits that can stand up to it. YOu may need to increase your ratios of sweeter fruits like apples to offset the bitterness that comes from the greens.
Snacks
Bok choy leaves can be dehydrated in the oven to make crispy chips like kale. The stalks can be used like celery for crudite and snacking with vegetable dips.
Soups
Bok choy is a great addition to soup recipes. It adds a distinct yet subtle flavor to the stock, and the stalks stay crunchy unless cooked to death.
You can add chopped bok choy to pretty much any broth based soup early in the cooking process. It can also be pureed into your base for creamy bisque style soups.
The greens can be added at the end of the cooking process as a fresh component in the same way you might add herbs.
In summary, bok choy is an incredibly versatile vegetable that adds a peppery flavor and crunch to everything from breakfast, to dinner, to snacks.
