Recipe from The Farm Box: Bok Choi

I do the cooking. I like it. The Husband makes an excellent sous chef and will occasionally suggest recipes to try, he's also excellent at grocery shopping, but when it comes to the day to day meal planning and putting dinner on the table, I do the cooking. It's a creative outlet for me after a hard days work of analytical thinking and dealing with other people's problems. Plus it has the added benefit of being the only "art" where you have the opportunity to make not only your eyes but your mouth happy. Not that I am always successful at that.

The only area that The Husband has true dominion (aside from breakfast which I acquiesce because I would rather sleep then fry bacon), is the grill. There is something about cooking over a grill which is just plain intimidating. And I know that there is something shameful about this. I should be perfectly capable of using a grill. There is no special magic about it, it certainly isn't any more difficult then making fresh pasta or baking bread from scratch and I approach those tasks with joy at the challenge. But the grill simply fills me with dread.

However, I am eager to overcome this fear so when I found THIS recipe I decided to accept the challenge before me and instead of an introduction to the grill being the confusing steamy world of hamburgers or steaks, it would be that fresh delicious green known as Bok Choi.

I really enjoy Bok Choi. It is reminds me of if cabbage and celery got together and made a baby. It has a very distinct, very clean taste and you can use everything from the root to the tip of the greens, giving a wide variety of textures. It is extremely versatile, although most of the time I find it in stir fry.

Grilling this Delicious veg seemed like an interesting challenge, I was worried it would basically burn to a crisp and result in us eating pure soba noodles for dinner (not that we haven't done that in the past). However, it held up surprisingly well and the leaves of the bok choi dried out, rather then burned on the edges, giving a smokey flavor that reminded me of kale chips in a not unpleasant way.  The dish was very refreshing, even more so that we didn't really have to heat up our kitchen save for boiling a single pot of water. I forgot to ask The Husband to pick up the carrots called for in the recipe. I do not think they were missed, but they would certainly add a nice fresh element to the dish, and some color so if you have them, please throw them in.

Before I list the recipe I just want to add that I am pleased to report I did not have any problems with the grill. Although apprehensive, I managed to clean, oil and cook on the fancy fire pit with little incident except for the occasional flame up. Maybe next time I will graduate to steak.

THE RECIPE:

Soba Noodles w/grilled Bok Choi
Recipe modified from Cathy Vogt at A Natural Chef and can be found HERE
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Serves: 2-3

• 6oz  of soba noodles, cooked to package's instructions
• 2 ea.-carrots- peeled or scrubbed and julienned [unless you forget them]
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 cup - Canola oil 
• 2 tsp.- toasted sesame oil
• 3 Tbsp.- rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp- maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp- Dijon mustard
• 1/2 a large Bok Choi broken down [I think the original recipe called for baby Bok Choi but I only had Adult Bok Choi]
• 2 Tbsp- sesame seeds [white, or black, or both!]

1. Cook Soba noodles according to package directions, drain and rinse lightly with cool water
2. Place noodles and julienne carrots in a large bowl and set aside
3. In a small bowl or in a container, mix together soy sauce, oils, rice wine  vinegar, maple syrup and mustard until emulsified
4. Drizzle 1/2 of the dressing over the Bok choi and marinate for @ 20 minutes.  Place bok choi on a hot grill or in a heated cast iron pan and cook on each side  until softened and caramelized.
5. Cool boy choi slightly and cut into 1" slice on a diagonal, toss with noodle/carrot mixture and remaining dressing, top with toasted sesame seeds