“What will you call this one?” “Hmmm, Mom’s Stir Fry?!”

It was raining, again, when I went to pick up week two’s share of produce. This time around I knew where to go, where to park, and that I needed to bring a big bag to carry home all my goodies! I felt a lot more confident this week! Week two’s produce included bok choy, spinach, basil, chives, and kale. It was somewhat similar to what I had gotten the week before, but the summer is still young!

For week two’s meal, I did not use a recipe that revolved around just one of my vegetables. I decided to prepare stir fry which included several different types of vegetables. But, I added three new ingredients to the stir fry that I have never used before! They were: bok choy, chives, and leeks. These three vegetables taste great in stir fry; I just never gave them a chance. While preparing my meal, I took a taste of the bok choy, leeks, and chives. The bok choy tasted like a cross between radishes and lettuce. The leeks tasted like plain old onions. And the chives also had an onion flavor, but it was not overwhelming. It tasted more like the green portion of a green onion. Perhaps I should call it slightly less strong tasting and/or bitter than an onion. With the combination of chicken and other vegetables, all three of these new ingredients made a great addition to a yummy, healthy meal!

Before I move on, I must say that I cannot tell a lie. My mom helped me out with this recipe. I know; I know…I should do it by myself. But, the whole point of this project is to make healthy, new recipes with the ones you love, right?! In dedication to my mom, week two’s recipe is called Mom’s (Garden) Stir Fry. I’m pretty sure the “garden” was thrown in there because my mom didn’t want just her “name” in the title.

Week 2, recipe 2: Mom’s (Garden) Stir Fry Ingredients: 1 ½ to 2 chicken breasts (chopped) 4 tablespoons olive oil 2 cloves of garlic ½ cup carrots ½ to ¾ cup broccoli 5 chives (optional) 4-5 medium to large mushrooms 3-4 leaves of book Choy ½ stalk of leek ¼ cup stir fry sauce (any kind) 4 servings of rice (1 cup rice) Preparation: Using a large wok, heat the olive oil until warm. Add the garlic and stir fry until golden brown. Add chopped chicken and stir fry until white. Add carrots – stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add leeks – stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add broccoli – stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add chives – stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms – stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add bok choy – stir fry for 1 minute. Add stir fry sauce – heat through (1 minute). Remove from heat and serve over prepared rice. * If you add other vegetables, put the more “tough” or longer cooking vegetables in first. * Be sure to keep your vegetables moving in the wok (continuous stirring) to prevent sticking and/or burning.

This stir fry is one of my favorite meals! It is a healthy and tasty meal. I enjoy adding spicy stir fry sauce to give the meal a real kick!
I felt pretty confident preparing this meal since I have seen my mom do it countless times before. But, it was truly my first time preparing it myself. I am happy to say it turned out delicious! My mom, the creator of this home-recipe, thought it was yummy as well. The only asterisk I have to make about this meal is the odd way some of the chives cooked up. Some of the pieces of chives were “stalky” or hard. Next time I use them, I will be sure they are not “stalky” – I may have thrown in the root portion of the chive. Oh well, it did not ruin my meal!
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Not sure what bok choy and leek look like? Either was I. Here are samples:

bok choy
leek
Bok choy and leek chopped for stir fry

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Week 2, recipe 3: Raw Kale Salad Ingredients: 1 bunch of kale 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt Fresh squeezed juice of two lemons 1 teaspoon of olive oil  1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar A pinch of cayenne pepper Preparation: Rip or chop the leaves of the kale and place into a large bowl (remove stems when chopping). Add the lemon juice and sea salt. Thoroughly mix by hand or with a spatula for 20 minutes. Add the cayenne, oil, and balsamic vinegar. Mix for another 2 minutes.

Well, this recipe was not as tasty as I was hopeing! I will not go as far as saying it was a failed dish, but I would not prepare it this same way again. The flavor was too lemony which made it too sour to enjoy completely. But, the cayenne pepper really helped to give the salad a zing and bring down the lemon flavor somewhat. So, if I were to create this dish again, I would put less lemon juice in it. I would probably put the juice of ½ to 1 lemon in, perhaps a little more olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and the same amount of cayenne pepper. This would give the salad more flavor – not just a lemon flavor (I hope!) Oh, and also, I did not mix the ingredients for 20 minutes…who has time for that?!

I will tally this recipe under “work in progress”. The good news is: I am not deterred by this not-so-good recipe. It makes me want to experiment more!