A simple and tasty side dish. Serve with rice, orzo, or your favorite whole grain.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information.
Heat the coconut oil in a skillet on medium heat.
Add the Bok Choy, garlic and pecans. Sauté for 5 to 7 minutes. (The amount of time depends on how crispy you like your bok choy stalks.)
Season with lemongrass powder, galangal powder, sea salt and pepper. Toss and sauté for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and serve.
Bok Choy – This recipe calls for baby bok choy, but if you can’t find it, use regular bok choy. Just slice it vertically into thin strips. You may also need to cook it a minute or two longer since the stalks will be thicker.
Cooking Oil – Here’s where you can really be creative. I’ve used just coconut oil, or 1 Tbsp. coconut oil + 1 Tbsp. butter, or to really change it up – 1 Tbsp. unrefined peanut oil + 1 tsp. sesame seed oil. All are delicious and with completely different flavor profiles.
Roasted Pecans – Roasted, salted peanuts make a good substitution for the pecans. However, don’t cook them. Just chop them up and top each serving with a few chopped peanuts. The nuts contribute flavor a a nice crunch to the dish. If you use pecans already roasted, then add them at the end with about 1" left to saute'.
Garlic Substitution – I know, why would I want to eliminate the garlic?! However, if you can find some beautiful spring onions, use them instead. Slice the onions vertically as you do the bok choy and sauté with the bok choy. Spring onions and bok choy with the sesame and peanuts oils, make a fabulous dish!
Seasonings – If you don’t have the three seasonings that I use in this dish, then there are alternatives. If you can find lemongrass, it should work to slice a small stalk and sauté with the bok choy. For the galangal and sweet ginger sea salt, just grate some fresh ginger and sauté with bok choy or use a little ginger powder and Chinese ground mustard. Add sea salt to taste.
Other toppings – As with any side dish, you want the flavors to complement whatever you’re serving it with; therefore, other ingredients can be added. One of my favorites is toasted coconut. Toasted coconut goes very nicely with the peanuts, peanut oil and sesame oil version.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen