18 Baby Bok Choy and Counting

A few months ago a neighbor of mine got me addicted to a lovely little Sat. ritual.  Every Sat. morning at the crotch of dawn, one of us (OK actually it is usually one of our wonderful husbands) head down to the local elementary and pick up our Bountiful Basket.  They are wonderful!!  For $15 you get a laundry basket sized box of fresh fruits and veggies.  Whatever is in season is what you get and there is always a surprise in store.  My family has loved it.  I've loved it.  But here is where my dilemma starts.  Last week I picked up the box and immediately saw a couple of Baby Bok Choy.    I was dang excited.  I've wanted to try these veggies for a long time, and I even planted a row of them in my garden this year.  Little did I know that the few Baby Bok Choy on the top of the pile of veggies were just that.  The top of a pile.  An enormous pile.  18 Baby Bok Choy to be exact.  What the heck am I going to do with all of those.  I've experimented.  I served them sauteed with a little garlic and butter.  That was pretty good, but I've decided that Baby Bok Choy's only true destiny is in Asian Noodle Soup.  YUM!

As a kid growing up, my parents would take the whole family out to dinner every time we had a birthday.  For quite a few years the only place we ever wanted to go was Chuck E. Cheese.  I was a master Skeet Ball Player.  As I got older my favorite place on the planet was The Utah Noodle.  It was soooo good.  They had these fried shrimp that were the size of a small plate.  I think they took a really big shrimp and then pounded it flat and battered and fried it.  You'd dip it in a puddle of cocktail sauce with a tiny little dollop of spicy Chinese mustard.  I remember the first time my dad prepared the bite for me and feeling like my nose had been cleared out of all boogers.  Forever!  It was hot, but boy was it delicious!  I always ordered a big bowl of noodles that had a tons of veggies on top.  I'll bet you $100 that Bok Choy was in there.  I would load up my light colored broth with Soy Sauce and then set out eating that wonderful bowl of noodles and veggies.  I would slurp to my hearts content.

 I tried to recreate that noodle soup the other night, and I think I made a fairly good attempt.  It was downright delish actually.   My oldest son made some seriously loud slurping noises as he ate his bowl.  All the  kids ate all the veggies too.  I loved it!  I'll make it again.  I don't think I have a choice actually.  I'm going to have a few more than 18 Baby Bok Choy in about a week or so.  Wish me luck!  Oh and if you'd like some, I'd be more than happy to share:)

Asian Noodle Soup

2 T. oil

2-3 garlic cloves minced

1 t. grated ginger root

Saute the above ingredients just a minute or two.  Don't let the garlic burn or it turns nasty tasting.  To the pot add:

8 c. chicken broth

1 onion chopped

2 carrots chopped on the bias

2 celery stalks cut on the bias

4 baby bok choy washed and chopped into 1 inch. slices

Bring all of these ingredients to a boil.  Boil gently until the veggies are tender.  From this point you can add noodles.  I precooked about 8 oz. of dried Udon Noodles, but you can buy fresh ones that would be delish.  You could also use Top Ramen noodles here too.  Use what sounds best.  

I added a few more things:

1 t. sesame oil

4 T. soy sauce
snow peas

chopped green onions 

shredded chicken