Friday, November 06, 2009

Once again, excuse the bad picture



Chicken and Bok Choy Stir-Fry
Real Simple Best Recipes Easy, Delicious Meals Copyright 2009

1 tablespoon canola oil
4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
kosher salt and black pepper
4 heads baby bok choy, quartered lengthwise
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup store-bought barbebue sauce
4 scallions, thinly sliced I forgot these!

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the bok choy and 1/4 cup water to the skillet. Cover and cook until the bok choy is just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, barbecue sauce, and scallions. Add to the skillet and bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook, tossing, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.
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I know this isn't the most enticing picture but you can see a prettier shot here on the Real Simple site. That's the picture in the cookbook.

I had not cooked with baby bok choy before this. It was surprisingly tasty and tender. Even my husband seemed to enjoy it. My local grocery store didn't have it and I ended up getting in Wegman's so I'm not sure if it's a hard-to-find item or not. I didn't check the other three local stores. I would think you could substitute regular bok choy, just cut it into smaller pieces.

Don't ask me how but I forgot the scallions. This recipe only has about 5 main ingredients and I forgot one. Oh well, I love green onions so this could only be better with them but nothing felt missing when we ate this without them.

I think the sauce would be too strong so I probably wouldn't substitute regular or dark soy sauce for the low-sodium soy in this recipe. There is a good reason they are calling for the low-sodium. If regular or dark is all you have, cut it with water or I think it would be too salty. Unless you have some rare low-sodium barbecue sauce (they're usually pretty salty).

This recipe called for cooked white rice but I substituted ramen since we all love it, especially the guys. This would have been very good with rice too though - there was plenty of juice (I wouldn't call it a sauce - it was thin). I cut my chicken into slices instead of chunks. Keep the pieces small since they will absorb more flavor that way.

This is something I would make again, maybe not with baby bok choy (since I don't always have that in my produce bin) but with whatever veggies I had on hand. That simple mix of the low-sodium soy and barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's) was so good.

Another good recipe from this new Real Simple cookbook that I discussed more in depth here.

Question of the Day: Have you ever tried Bok Choy? I think this was my first time trying it but it won't be my last.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, I like Bok Choy. I don't remember ever seeing Baby Bok Choy, but wasn't really looking for it.

Jan

Pilar said...

I have a question about the ramen noodles you often use...are they just the regular, 13¢ brick, cooked without the seasoning package? I use them all the time in place of noodles or even spaghetti, but I don't do real recipes around them. Do you break them up first or serve in long strands? How many packs do you use for a base for the 4 of you? Thanks. Oh, I've tried Bok Choy...good but not remarkable. I prefer collards for a green and cabbage for, well, cabbage.

The Cookbook Junkie said...

Yes, I just use those packs without the seasoning. I use 3-4 packages for the 4 of us plus leftovers (usually about 1 serving left over). I don't know if you can go by us though - my husband can eat a ridiculous amount of food.