Roasted Baby Bok Choy, my favorite veggie next to artichokes. Bok choy, specifically baby bok choy are a lot simpler to prepare than artichokes and are incredibly versatile.
I seriously eat baby bok choy all the time and I am FINALLY sharing my favorite and super easy way to prepare them that is insanely delicious.
I adore baby bok choy. It is my favorite of the cabbage family. I love shredded green cabbage in tacos or posole, but baby bok choy is one of my go-to's for many different meals. It is very common in different Asian cuisines from Thai to Korean to Vietnamese. I love baby bok choy in ramen.
I will make baby bok choy with fried eggs for breakfast, with kalua pork for dinner, or as a side to any fish dish I make. It is really good with sticky rice too. I have made it many ways, grilled, sauteed with all the leaves pulled apart, but oven roasted is my favorite, and easiest!!!
Ingredients needed for simple roasted baby bok choy:
Baby Bok Choy - try to find smaller heads of cabbage than larger and all uniform in size as well
Garlic - for the infused garlic oil
Oil - for both the infused garlic oil as well as satueeing the walnuts. Use a mild oil such as avocado, sunflower or refined coconut oil
Walnuts - I have made this recipe with a few different nuts and I like walnuts the best
How to prepare baby bok choy:
Depending on how I am preparing bok choy, I always rinse well or even soak for a while in cold water to remove any dirt, grit or bugs.
I often simply cut in half or trim off the bottom and separate all the stems and leaves. I will either leave those whole or trim the green leaves from the white stems. Anyway they are prepared, a good rinse is a must.
Trim off the tops of the bok choy.
Cut the bottoms in half. Rinse and soak well in water to remove any grit, dirt or bugs. Dry then place in a glass or metal roasting dish.
One step that is crucial in making this recipe amazing is the garlic oil. Sauteeing sliced garlic in oil is hands down the best thing ever. I like to use a neutral oil such as sunflower or avocado oil. Refined coconut oil is also an excellent oil to use. I like using refined coconut oil for applications like this so there is no strong coconut flavor. You want that garlic flavor to shine.
Sizzle the garlic slices in oil to make the garlic infused oil.
Discard the garlic, brush the cut baby bok choy halves with half of the oil. Save half the oil in the pan off of the heat.
Roughly chop the tops of the bok choy next.
Roast the walnuts in the remaining half of the infused garlic oil. Nuts tend to burn quickly so keep an eye on them the entire time and stir often.
Add the chopped bok choy tops to the pan with the walnuts.
When the bottoms are done roasting top with the sautéed tops and walnuts.
Simple, healthy and super delicious.
A few notes about this simple roasterd baby bok choy recipe first:
I love using tamari ( gluten free soy sauce), soy sauce or balsamic vinegar with the baby bok choy, depending on what I am serving it with.
Usually with fish or pork I will use the tamari or soy sauce, with chicken I will use balsamic. Either way is super good.
I also have made this with sauteeing the green leaves for several minutes but sometimes this cooks them too much and I have found that the heat of the pan from the walnuts wilts them just enough that they are perfectly cooked with the heat off.
Simple Roasted Baby Bok Choy
Ingredients
- 8 Baby Bok Choy - uniform in size and shape
- 6 tablespoons refined coconut oil
- 6 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
- 8-10 Tablespoons walnuts roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt if using balsamic vinegar
- 1-3 teaspoons tamari soy sauce or balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 Deg. F Set out a large shallow glass or metal baking dish.
- Slice off the dark green leaves and then slice the white stalks in half lengthwise. Rinse and soak the baby bok choy in cold water to remove any grit or bugs. Yes bugs like to live in baby bok choy. Dry after soaking. You can do this by setting out on paper towels.
- Place the stalks in a baking dish, roughly chop the leaves and set those aside.
- In a medium sauce pan over med-low heat, melt the coconut oil and add the garlic slices and heat until the garlic starts to turn brown. Quickly remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard the garlic and turn off the heat. Using a pastry brush or a spoon divide half of the garlic oil over the baby bok choy stalks in the roasting pan, saving the remaining oil in the saucepan. Season with ground black pepper, lemon juice and sea salt if using balsamic vinegar. If using soy sauce don’t add additional salt.
- Roast the baby bok choy stems for 20 minutes. Once they have been roasting for 15 minutes, heat the pan of remaining garlic oil to medium high and add in the walnuts and sauté, being careful not to burn them, about 2-3 minutes. Add in the reserved leaves and either the tamari, soy sauce or balsamic vinegar and remove from heat. Stir gently until the leaves start to wilt. Remove the stalks from the oven and divide amongst plates. Top the stalks with the sautéed leaves and walnut mixture. Serve hot.
Notes
So there you have it, my favorite veggie prepared my favorite way! One of these days I will make my artichokes recipe to share. It's just as good and as easy to make.
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