Meatless Monday: Stir Fried Bok Choy and Lettuce with Shiitake Mushrooms

It's just another Manic Monday right?  Not when dinner is a quick and easy stir fry!  I don't know about you, but my job sure isn't getting any less busy, and recently, I'm never sure what time I'll be home.  This recipe, from start to finish, took less than an hour and was filling without being heavy.  

 

Knowing that my local farm, Hydro Harvest Farms, has an abundance of bok choy and lettuce, I scoured the internet in search of inspiration and happened upon this recipe from Cooking Light magazine.  I tweaked it a bit to my tastes by adjusting the sauce and using fresh mushrooms and ended up with this stir fry.  I was intrigued, and I am kinda getting tired of salads. You may say that stir frying lettuce sounds crazy, but apparently there are other ways to eat lettuce!

 

Combine soy sauce, wine, and sugar in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Heat your wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil and ginger to pan; saute 30 seconds. Quickly add your sliced mushrooms and saute for 1 minute. Add one cup of broth and bring it to a boil. Cook until your mushrooms reduce in size and take on a shine. 

Combine the oyster sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir the mixture until the corn starch is mixed in well.  Stir your oyster sauce mixture into the mushrooms in the wok and bring it all to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook it all for about a minute or until thickened and then remove the mushrooms from the heat.

To your wok, add the remaining oil and heat until shimmering.  Then, add your garlic and stir fry it for 10 seconds. Add your bok choy to the wok and the rest of the broth. You may have to add the bok choy in batches but stir fry it all for about 2 minutes or until the bok choy begins to soften.

Add the lettuce, again potentially in batches, and stir fry for about 2 minutes or until lettuce wilts. Add the mushroom mixture and the soy sauce mixture to the wok and continue cooking 3 minutes or until bok choy is tender.

To serve, I used our rice cooker to make some brown rice and just spooned the stir fry over top.

Ingredients:

2 cups sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms (about 20 total)
2  tablespoons  low-sodium soy sauce
1  tablespoon  Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry
1/2  teaspoon  sugar
4  teaspoons  canola oil, divided
1  teaspoon  minced peeled ginger
2  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
4  tablespoons  vegetarian oyster sauce, or regular if you have it
2  teaspoons  cornstarch
3  large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
8  heads baby bok choy, halved lengthwise (about 6 cups of greens)
1  medium head romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces (about 8 cups)

Verdict:  I am so looking forward to lunch tomorrow.  I was hesitant about stir frying lettuce, and was pleasantly surprised. 

Mahi Mahi and Tomatoes with a Lemon, Garlic, and Oregano Sauce

Everyone needs a meal in their back pocket that looks fancy, and tastes like you cooked all day, without really needing you to do so.  Everyone needs a recipe that will impress without really trying.  Everyone needs this recipe!

It may not look like much, but we've eaten it twice in a week!  Simply put, it's fish covered in tomatoes, and baked with a lemon, garlic and oregano sauce.  But it is just so much more than that.  It's fresh and light and a meal that you can for cheap that you make out of foods that your market may just have year round. 

First, mince your garlic and then slice your tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices. 

Don't mind the bok choy in the back of this picture, you'll see it in another recipe soon!  Back to the fish.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pat the fish fillets completely dry with a paper towel and season them on both sides with the salt and a few "grindings" of pepper.  Juice enough fresh lemons to make a 1/2 cup of lemon juice - about 1 1/2 lemons.  Combine lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of oregano in a small bowl.  Stir lemon juice mixture until the ingredients are well blended. Then add the fillets to a small casserole dish, pour the lemon juice mixture over the fish fillets and turn them over to ensure that the mixture has a chance to cover both sides evenly.

Place the tomato slices over them and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of oregano on top.
Bake in middle of oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until fillets flake easily when pressed gently with a fork. Serve the fillets at once directly from the baking dish. 

This is best served with something that will soak up the delicious sauce.  My father is convinced that my body is about three fourths pasta, my choice is pretty obviously gonna be pasta, but you can go ahead and use rice or another grain if you feel so inclined.  We found Brussels Sprouts on sale and decided that they would be a great vegetable and steamed them.

Ingredients:
4 mild and firm fleshed fish fillets - we used Mahi Mahi
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cups fresh lemon juice, strained
2 tbsp. olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. dry oregano, crumbled
2 med. sized firm, ripe tomatoes, washed, cored & cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices

Verdict - I wasn't kidding when I said we've had this twice in one week.  The first was on Valentine's Day, if that gives you an idea of just how much we enjoyed this meal!

Carrot, Leek and Chickpea Soup

Some days just call for soup!  This was a clean out the fridge soup, and turned out so well I ate it all week.  

Remember this picture?

 I still have way too many carrots and am trying desperately to use them up!

Due to a camera malfunction, and by malfunction I mean I broke it, I am relying on my camera phone for blogging purposes.  Sadly, this is the only photo of the soup that survived the transfer. 

To make the soup, first chop two large leeks in half, and then in shreds.  Make sure to wash the leeks before you cook them, they do collect sand in between the layers.  Slice about 6 small cloves of garlic.  Peel and slice three large carrots into thin half moons.  Heat about three tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot.  Saute the leeks until they become softened and pliant.  Add the garlic and saute for one minute.  Add carrots and saute until they begin to soften and add about two quarts of chicken broth.  Bring the soup up to a simmer and add a bay leaf, a teaspoon of black peppercorns, a Parmesan cheese rind and 4 cups of chick peas.  If not using your own cooked chick peas, then add two cans of rinsed chick peas.  Simmer on low for about an hour.  If you would like to, add cooked pasta before serving.  If planning to cook the pasta in the soup, add more broth! 

Ingredients:
2 Large Leeks
6 garlic cloves
3 large carrots
2 quarts of chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 Parmesan cheese rind
4 cups cooked chick peas
2 cups cooked pasta

For a soup that eats like a meal, serve with cheesy garlic bread!