Recipe: The two-in-one vegetable in a frittata variation
Serve the bok choy bake warm or at room temperature. Debbie Arrington
As with many greens, bok choy harvest seems to come all at once. Of course, it’s wonderful for stir fry, but what else can bok choy do?
Think of bok choy as two vegetables in one. Treat the stringy, crunchy stems like celery and the leafy tops like spinach. That realization opens up a lot of bok choy possibilities.
This recipe uses both the bok choy stems and the green tops. A versatile frittata variation, bok choy bake makes a delicious side dish or anytime eggy entree.
Sautéing the bok choy stems and greens before baking keeps this egg dish from becoming soggy.
Bok choy bake
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups bok choy (1 medium head)
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil plus more to prepare baking dish
1 cup onion, chopped
4 eggs
½ cup half and half (or ¼ cup cream and ¼ cup milk)
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 to 3 dashes Tabasco sauce
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter or grease 9-by-9-inch baking dish; set aside.
Prepare bok choy. Cut leaves from root and wash well, then pat dry. With a sharp knife or scissors, separate stems from leaves. Tear greens into large pieces; set aside. Chop stems crosswise.
Melt butter or heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add chopped bok choy stems and chopped onion. Sauté until soft. Add bok choy greens to the pan, a handful at a time. Sauté, stirring often, until all the greens are limp and cooked, but still bright green, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add half and half or milk and cream. Stir in cheeses and Tabasco sauce. Add bok choy and onion mixture.
Pour egg mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown on top, about 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 18
Get outside early in the morning while temperatures are still cool – and get to work!
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. Transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.
* Plant dahlia tubers.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Are birds picking your fruit off trees before it’s ripe? Try hanging strips of aluminum foil on tree branches. The shiny, dangling strips help deter birds from making themselves at home.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.