Bok Choy and Tempeh (or Chicken or Pork) Stir Fry with Mushrooms, Sweet Peppers and Onions

Photo by Susanna Liang at Divine Healthy Food.  Her recipe uses a red chili pepper so it's spicier.


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Sally wrote me after I had developed recipes for tomatillo salsa, to say that the bag for Glade Road Growing this week would instead include bok choy, salad turnips, red pepper, red onion, arugula, lettuce mix and tomatoes.  Here's my recipe for a stir fry using the bok choy, red pepper, red onion and tomatoes with tempeh.  If you prefer, you can use cooked chicken or pork, sliced thin and added in with the tomatoes.

Plus check out the recipe Sally found for the newsletter for  grilled bok choy and turnip rice bowls with soy sesame sauce by Oregon "farmer turned foodie Andrea Bemis" at her blog Dishing Up The Dirt.  (And while you're there, check out the other recipes!)



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Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups of brown rice

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or peanut oil
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
8  cremini mushrooms, sliced (sometimes called baby portobellos)
1 red onion, thinly sliced with one tablespoon finely chopped and reserved for garnish
1 package of tempeh, cut into thin strips (or 1 cup cooked chicken or pork)
1 sweet red pepper, stemmed, seeded, membrane removed and cut into thin slices
4 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and chopped
fresh ginger, chopped to make 1 tablespoon
4 medium bok choy, chopped into thin slices
2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons of balsamic or rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons of miso
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro chopped


Instructions

1.  45 minutes before you start the stir fry, bring 2 cups of brown rice and 4 cups of water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed lidded pot.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Rinse rice until water is clear, add water up to the original level and bring again to boil for another five minutes.  Cover pot, turn off the heat and let steam for 40 minutes until the water is absorbed.

2.  Heat a dry cast iron skillet over a medium heat until a drop of water boils off.  Toast sesame seeds until they pop.  Immediately transfer to plate and reserve for garnish.

3.  Add olive or peanut oil to the skillet and heat until a bead of water sizzles.  Add mushrooms and cook until tender.  Add the onions and cook until translucent.  Add the garlic, ginger, paprika, red pepper flakes, red pepper and bok choy and cook the vegetables are tender. 

4.   While the veggies are cooking, in a small bowl, make a paste of the cornstarch, water, miso, sesame oil and vinegar.  Turn down the heat to low and add mixture to the skillet, stirring until it thickens.  Stir in tomatoes (and meat, if you are substituting for the tempeh) and turn off heat and let warm through.

5.  Stir the rice with a fork to fluff and divide among four bowls.  Top with stir fry, garnished with toasted sesame seeds, chopped cilantro and  reserved, chopped red onions.

Photo by Andrea Bemis of her grilled bok choy and turnip rice bowls with soy sesame sauce.

far


mer turned foodie, Andrea Bemis  

Spring Rolls With Shredded Kohlrabi

Photo by Andrew Scrivani for the New York Times

Kohlrabi will be in the farm share this week from Glade Road Growing.  You can cook this milder sweeter descendant of wild cabbage in a variety of ways.  When it comes to the bulbs, you can  bake or roast 'em, pickle 'em,  stew 'em (I love them in curries),  saute 'em and braise 'em.  Or don't cook them at all.  This recipe is in the last category, because, hey it's hot come summer. 

The greens and stems, by the way, are also edible.  I'd suggest that you fix them as you would kale or collards.  Or, if they are too tough, after steaming them lightly, puree and add to soups, hot or cold.)

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Serves 4

The inspiration for using kohlrabi in a spring roll was Martha Rose Shulman, but her recipe uses rice sticks, while I prefer mung bean threads.  She uses tofu and I use tempeh. 

Ingredients:


2  ounces mung bean threads
1 package of tempeh, sliced into pieces 1/2 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 small kohlrabi, peeled and cut into matchsticks (make sure to remove fibrous layer just under the skin before shredding)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, cut in julienne
1/4 teaspoon of demerara sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro, plus 16 sprigs
1/2 cup of slivered basil, plus 8 leaves
1/2 cup of chopped mint leaves, plus 16 leaves
8  8 1/2-inch rice flour spring roll wrappers
1 tablespoon of ground, roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon of miso
1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

Directions:

1.  Place the bean threads in a large bowl and cover with boiling water.  Soak for 15 to 20 minutes until the noodles are pliable, then drain and transfer  to another bowl. Using kitchen scissors, cut the noodles into roughly 6-inch lengths. Pat dry. Leave the warm water in the bowl for softening the wrappers.

2.  Blanch carrot in boiling water until softened, about 45 seconds. Drain. Rinse under cold water to stop cooking.

3. Toss the shredded kohlrabi with salt to taste and let sit in a colander placed in the sink for 20 to 30 minutes to drain. Squeeze out excess liquid and toss with the sugar, lime juice carrot, ginger, chopped cilantro, slivered basil and chopped mint leaves. Let stand 5 minutes.  Drain the pickled vegetables, reserving the marinade.

4.  One at a time, place a rice flour wrapper in the bowl of warm water until just softened. Remove from the water and drain briefly on a kitchen towel. Place the softened wrapper on your work surface and put a line of tempeh slices in the middle of the wrapper, slightly nearer the edge closest to you, leaving a 1 1/2-inch margin on the sides. Place a small handful of noodles over the tempeh, then place a handful of the shredded vegetable mixture over the noodles. Lay a couple of sprigs of cilantro and a Thai basil leaf and a couple of mint leaves on top. Fold the sides of the wrapper over the filling, then roll up tightly. Arrange on a plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.

5. Cover rolls with damp paper towels and then plastic wrap.

6.  To make dipping sauce, whisk together peanuts, sesame oil, miso and pepper flakes and thin, as desired, with the marinade.  Refrigerate.

Serve within four hours.

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Some past recipes for kohlrabi:
Roasted Veggie, Chickpea and Collard Salad with Tahini Dressing Kohlrabi Home Fries
Kohlrabi Fritters with Tzatziki (Greek Cumber Yogurt Dill Sauce)Kohlrabi Apple Carrot Slaw

Chard with Tomatoes and Tempeh

Photo is cropped by one  Gnoe of Utrech, Holland.



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Veggies in the farm share from Glade Road Growing the week of August 18 are expected to include:  sweet peppers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, and rainbow chard. 

I like to serve this recipe over cooked brown rice, quinoa or buckwheat kasha, drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar. 

Two previous recipes are for eggplant rollups with chard and chard with a balsamic vinegar and rosemary syrup.  The chard would also be great tossed with warm cooked lentils to wilt  and then chillded and served in a salad with the tomatoes, the peppers and some feta cheese.

Serves 4



1.  Wash and rinse chard twice and drain in collander.  Slice stems and chard leaves in 1/2 pieces, keeping stems separate.

2.  Wash tomatoes and dice.

3.  Peel and smash 8 cloves of garlic and chop finely

3 cloves garlic, minced

4.  Cut  2 blocks of tempeh into cubes

5.  Saute tempeh and garlic in a cast iron skillet coated well with extra virgin olive oil until light brown in color.  Add chard stems, red pepper flakes and sea salt to taste with some more oil and cook for a couple of minutes until stems are soft.

6.  Transfer to a covered saucepan.   Add chopped chard leaves and a bit more oil, mixing well to coat evenly.  Cover and let simmer for about 6-8 minutes, until leaves are wilted. Stir occasionally. When chard is done, add tomatoes.

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

Photo from The Functional Foodie

The September 23 farm share for Glade Road Growing is slated to include: spaghetti squash, dill, bok choy, Rosa de Tropea onions, carrots and radishes.

Spaghetti squash is a winter squash with flesh that appears solid until it is cooked and falls into  strands like spaghetti.  Many folks cook it with an Italian-inspired tomato or primavera sauce, which is delicious, but I decided to go Asian and provide a recipe for the stir-fried noodle dish Pad Thai, since the consistency reminds me more of rice noodles than of wheat pasta.  The recipe in the photograph called for tofu and bean spouts, but I prefer tempeh to tofu  and substituted radishes and bok choy for the bean sprouts, since they are in the farm share this week.

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Serves 4

For peanut sauce:  Process in a blender, food processor or mortar and pestle:
1/4 c. roasted peanut (or substitute cashew and/or sunflower seeds, if you are allergic to peanuts)
2 tbsp white rice vinegar or lime juice
1 tbsp of miso
1 tbsp demerara or turbinado sugar and 1 clove of garlic.
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

For garnish, in separate bowls prepare:
1/3 cup of chopped roasted peanuts, cashews or sunflower seeds
1/3 cup of cilantro leaves torn loose from stem
1/3 cup of chopped green onions
1 lime cut into wedges

Cook the spaghetti squash.  To prep, cut in half, scoop out seeds and stringy pulp with a spoon.  I roast mine face up in a convection oven at 475 for 30 minutes, but you can also cook it in a baking dish  with 1/4 cup of water face down  about 12 minutes in a microwave or  about 35 minutes in a conventional oven at 350 degrees F or until  soft. Set squash to cool and then use a fork to separate the flesh into ribbons.

While the squash is cooking and cooling, prep the other veggies.  Thinly slice one of the Rosa de Tropea onions.  Cut carrots into matchsticks to make 1 cup.  Thinly slice radishes to make one cup.  Thinly slice bok choy to make one cup.  Mince 3 cloves of garlic a one-inch piece of fresh ginger root. Cut one block of tempeh into thin slices.

In a lightly oiled skillet, cook tempeh until lightly browned, about 3 minutes and remove from heat.

Re-oil skillet and add onions, garlic and ginger;  stir until onions are softened and translucent. Add carrots and radishes and stir for about 1 minute more. Add sauce and tempeh and stir gently, until thoroughly mixed.  Remove from heat and add bok choy and squash, tossing to combine. Pour into a deep platter or divide among individual bowls and garnish.  Serve at once.

Tempeh and Tatsoi

This photo is from the recipe blog of Joan E. Marrero (email), CSA Director for J. R. Organics in Escondido, CA 85 acres under organic cultivation by  Joe Rodriguez, Jr.


For the September 17th delivery, Glade Road Growing expects to include tatsoi, broccoli, bell pepper, onions, cilantro, and summer squash.  YUM!  If you don't know, tatsoi is an Asian green, also known as Spinach mustard, Spoon mustard, or Rosette bok choy, but it's a bit more delicate than regular bok choy and works really well in recipes calling for wilted greens.  You can also eat it raw as a salad green.  Here's a recipe you can try.

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Serves 4

Cut one package (8 ounces) of tempeh into strips.  If you prefer, you can use a package of tofu cut into 1/4 " cubes, or 2 cups of cooked chicken or cooked beans (or a combination of chicken and beans.)

Wash tatsoi and dry on a clean kitchen towel.

Unless you already have some from a prior time, toast 1 TB or more of sesame seeds in a cast iron skillet until they just pop.  You can store any extra in a glass spice  jar after they cool.

Smash, peel and mince 2 fresh garlic cloves and 1 TB fresh ginger root.  In a small bowl, make a slurry of   1 1/2 tsp of corn starch and an equal amount of water.  In the bowl whisk together the garlic and ginger and slurry with:
1 TB miso
1 TB brown sugar
1 TB lime juice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a cast iron skillet, heated and lightly coated with extra virgin olive oil, saute tempeh or tofu over medium heat for 5-7 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Remove from skillet. Re-coat skillet with oil and add tatsoi; once wilted, add sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook just until sauce slightly thickens.

This is cook served over cooked brown rice or Japanese soba noodles mixed with chopped cilantro or parsley. Divide greens on plates. Top with tempeh or tofu. Drizzle with remaining sauce, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

If you are making this recipe with cooked chicken or beans, fold them in as sauce thickens and cook until warmed through.