Stuff Parents Need

We are really enjoying all the amazing vegetables that come home with us each week as part of our Community Supported Agriculture share that we have purchased for the season. I love the challenge of having to think outside of the box and use vegetables in new and exciting ways.

And if I’m being completely honest with you, I also hate having to think outside of the box and come up with different ways to prepare vegetables, many of which I’ve never even purchased on my own, so I have no idea what to do with them!

It definitely takes some research and some creativity to make sure we eat all the vegetables we are given every week. But on the bright side, I do think my cooking skills are improving a bit, as is my ability to think about what flavors might pair well together.

Last week we got bok choy. This is a very easy thing to throw into a stir fry. But that’s what I did with the bok choy we received the week before, and I wasn’t interested in repeating the same dish.

So I put my thinking cap and suddenly realized that the bok choy would be a great addition to a coleslaw recipe. Which, of course, would go wonderfully well with barbecue, which is one of my favorite dishes!

Farmer’s Market Slaw with Bok Choy

Ok, so here’s what I used to make my slaw:

One of the delightful and disgusting things about organic produce is that they are not as immune to little bugs who like to taste test. This year the bok choy was one of their very favorites. So…a little less for me to eat, but still plenty to work with! You’ll see here that in addition to the bok choy, I have an onion (the only thing not grown locally) and some beautiful carrots, a small head of red cabbage (I only used half of it), and a few green onions.

First, I shredded the cabbage using a grater. Next time I’ll just throw it in the food processor (I’ve used the same model for 10 years and it’s still going strong!)!

Next, I cut up some green onions. I actually used my beloved Kitchenaid Shears to do the chopping here. So easy! Those are a major workhorse in my kitchen, so if you don’t have a pair, strongly consider adding them to your wish list!

Now it was time to chop up the bok choy. I should add here that everything you are preparing needs to be washed thoroughly before you chop it up. Bok choy tends to be really dirty around the bottom, so give it extra care. Gritty slaw is not so tasty. Be sure to cut off the very tough bottoms of your bok choy, and then chop them a few times before putting them in the food processor, just to help it out a bit. The above picture shows what mine looked like after just a few pulses.

Now let’s deal with these gorgeous carrots, shall we? Cut off the very bottoms as well as the very tops, then chop each carrot 3 or 4 times, depending on its size. And chop ’em up really good in the food processor until they look like this:

Aren’t these colors just awesome? I was SO excited as I was putting it all together! It just looks like summer!

Next I chopped up half an onion. The next time I do this, I’d just go with 1/4 of an onion. It wasn’t bad with 1/2 an onion, but for me, less is more when it comes to this particular vegetable. You may feel differently!

This is the sauce I made for the slaw. It is 1/4 cup mayo, 1/4 cup plain yogurt, 2 tsp sugar and 2 tsp apple cider vinegar. That’s it! It is yummy!!!!

When you combine all these great elements, this is your reward for your hard work:

Definitely give bok choy a try the next time you make coleslaw. It is absolutely delicious and is now my go-to for when it comes in my weekly basket. After all, it means barbecue is on the menu! 🙂

How do you use bok choy? 

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