Boc Choi, Chinese Cabbage, Garlic Scape. It's all good! Such surprises are being added to my repertoire, thanks to the mystery vegetables arriving at the CSA every week. My biggest discovery is peanut oil. Sauteeing a few vegetables in it requires no added spices for a scrumptious stir fry. Other discoveries include:
- Garlic scapes are the elusive wonder vegetable! I have never seen one at any store or farmer's market. I do not know where they can be found if one doesn't grow one's own garlic. But someone must be selling them somewhere. Perhaps the high-end restaurants all get them first. What I do know is they are simply delightful with a subtle garlic-fresh taste. I added them to stir-fry, spaghetti sauce, basically anything that likes a little garlic.
- Cook the leaves! I had no idea you could just throw the leaves of the boc choi or chinese cabbage right in the stir-fry. It melts down to nothing and adds a chewy, nutrient-rich element.
- Add funky mushrooms! Last week I threw some interesting chinese mushrooms in. The cashier at whole foods couldn't find them on his chart so he charged me for trumpet mushrooms - $5/lb less than my more exotic mushrooms. And this week I repeated the pictured stir-fry but used wood ear mushrooms. They are dark brown with a rubbery texture and a rich flavor. I would definitely try these again.
Follow the photos below to watch the leaves disappear. Just enough left for juicy, flavorful bites.
And here it is with Wood Ear Mushrooms.
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