Cilantro, Greens, and Chicken Noodle Bowls

This is another quick dinner. Soup or salad is a perfect way to use greenhouse greens. I also added other vegetables that I had in the fridge. You can use a rotisserie chicken and boxed broth or you can make your own stock and shred the chicken, reserving whatever stock you don't need for another day.

Cilantro, Greens, and Chicken Noodle Bowls
1 whole chicken, de-boned and roughly, shredded
1 gallon stock or broth
1/2 cup carrots, sliced
1 tbsp diced ginger or 1/2 tsp ginger powder
2 cups joi choi
1 cup tatsoi
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
3-4 large mushrooms sliced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
3-5 tbsp tamari
1 lime
2 bunches green onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
2 packages ramen noodles, seasonings thrown in trash

Everything, except lime, tamari, noodles and green onions goes into a large pot until greens are wilted. Season with tamari and lime to taste. Once pot is just to a boil, add noodles and green onions. Turn off heat, serve when noodles are soft.

I love Sriracha--others in my family, not so much, so I add it at the table.

In a Hurry Chicken, Tatsoi, and Noodle Bowl

In a Hurry Chicken, Tatsoi, and Noodle Bowl:
2 chicken breasts, sliced thin
handful tatsoi
handful joi choi
2-3 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp chives, chopped
2 tbsp ginger, minced
4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp olive oil
1 package ramen noodles, seasoning packet in trash

Brown chicken in pot with olive oil and ginger, 4-5 minutes. Add broth, tamari and sesame oil. Bring just to a boil, add greens and simmer. When greens are wilted, add noodles, chives and remove from heat. Serve with Sriracha for the adventurous.

Shrimp and Joi Choi Spring Rolls

This is the result of an evening of experimentation gone right. I had purchased some rice wrappers and I had some leftover wonton wrappers and made a filling for both. I ended up making something like shumai with the wonton wrappers, it was good, but I had trouble making it look good for photographing, not enough filling, I think. Anyways, I filled the leftover wonton wrappers with uncooked filling and steamed them for ten minutes, they were delicious, even if they weren't totally pretty. With the rest of the filling, which I cooked, I made into spring rolls with two types of dipping sauce.

Shrimp and Joi Choi Spring Rolls
15-20 shrimp, uncooked, de-veined, tails removed
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 green onions
handful joi choi, plus another 2 cups
1/4 c, carrots, julienned (I just use a peeler), plus another 1 cup or so

Rice wrappers (Asian aisle, not refrigerated)
water

In a food processor, add shrimp, ginger, green onions, handful of joi choi, and 1/4c carrots and blend. Mixture can be put into won tons and steamed for 10 minutes for shumai. Otherwise, for spring rolls, cook mixture over medium heat until cooked through. Allow to cool and begin to prepare rice wrappers according to directions, stuff each wrapper with part of mixture, extra joi choi and carrots, and roll. You can chill for later or eat them right away.

Dipping sauces
Peanut Sauce: Mix about 1 tbsp of peanut butter with 1 tsp sesame oil, 3-4 tbsp tamari or soy sauce, and honey (2-3 tbsp) to taste, I added about 1/2 tsp. Sriracha for spice.

Spicy Sauce: 2-3 tbsp tamari, 1/2 tsp Sriracha, 1 tsp rice vinegar and 2-3 tbsp honey

I usually just begin by adding the above ingredients until I get the flavor I want, so feel free to play around with the amounts making them spicier, sweeter, or saltier according to your taste. We couldn't decide which sauce we liked better. Even my husband, who doesn't like seafood and never eats it, liked the spring rolls. He didn't get to try the shumai because they were gone almost as soon as they were out of the pan. Not bad for my first time making any of this and for an experiment, we can't wait to have them again.

Huge Veggie Stir Fry with Joi Choi

I'll admit that I'm still getting to know the bok choy branch of the crucifer family. Unlike cabbages and some cruciferous vegetables, all chinese cabbage varieties that I have encountered have been mild. The joi choi (tender baby bok choi leaves) used in this stir fry are no exception, they are difficult to see in this picture because they wilted quite a bit but the entire bag from this week's CSA share is in this bowl of plants slathered in oriental flavors.

In order to make this into a main dish meal for my whole family I had to use two skillets and a lot of vegetables. I don't know how many cups are here, but it filled my biggest bowl, uncooked, and then some. I made the sauce in a separate pan, because I wanted it to be thick when I mixed it with the vegetables, knowing the would continue to release water, even at the table.

Ingredients:
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 package of giant package of mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 large carrots, sliced
1 package of joi choi from my CSA
1 package of sugar snap peas
1 package of bean sprouts

Basically, this was stir-fried in olive oil and sesame oil, starting with the hardest vegetables first and ending with the most tender (peas, joi choi, and bean sprouts). While I was doing all of this I made a sauce, I didn't measure so I'll give a close approximation:

Sauce Ingredients:
2 inch piece of ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 c tamari
1/4 c. honey to taste (it might have been slightly more)
4 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 c oyster sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 c. water
1 bunch green onions, sliced

In a sauce pan add the first 3 ingredients, bring just to a boil, stirring to keep from burning. Add honey, oyster sauce, fish sauce and vinegar, bringing just to a boil, mix cornstarch and cold water in a cup and add to pan to thicken, continue to stir. When thickened, stir in green onions and sesame seeds, add to cooked vegetables.

I like to add Sriracha at the table since the rest of my family likes their food mild.