Asian Salad with Choi and Snap Peas

Use this flavor -packed Asian salad as your lunchtime Rx to get over a case of the Mondays.  Now that summer is in full swing, and staying inside during the day is even harder an inspired lunch idea will bring some of that sunshine indoors.

Snap peas and Choi can both be enjoyed raw, but in this salad we will sauté them to bring in a ton of flavor and a variety of textures.  Some of the ingredients will be raw,  like the carrots and radishes, and you can serve this dish fresh from the wok or chilled from your fridge.

Serves 2-3, but can easily be doubled

What you'll use from your bag:

Choi (as much as you can fit in your pan, usually about 4-6)

Snap Peas (one fully packet cup, with peas vertical)

2 turnips 

2 radish

2 spring onions

2 Scapes (and any spring garlic you have leftover from last week)

What else you'll need:

1-2 baby carrots, or 1 small carrot

1 inch Fresh ginger root

1/4 cup Red raspberries (because they are in season and on major sale!, but if you have traditional tastes, small oranges like Mandarins or Clementines are for you)

4-5 fresh Basil leaves

1 Tbs Rice Vinegar

2 Tbs cooking oil (I use safflower oil here)

3 Tbs of Tamari or Soy Sauce, and 1 Tbs of Tamari

Optional: I had some zucchini laying around and it made an excellent addition, any vegetables like eggplant, cucumber,  or mushrooms, make welcome additions here.

Bamboo shoots are also used, and optional. I found some at Giant in the ethnic foods section

You may elect to serve over rice, but otherwise alone, or served on this week's greens are a hearty and low-carb approach to a very light vegetable lunch.

First, you'll wash and prep your veggies

If you don't have rice in your fridge, now is a great time to start your rice, if desired, too (here's a basic chinese-style rice recipe )

Snap peas need a little extra attention. Unlike in the pate, where we blended them up whole, these

need to have their ends removed along with their string. The Choi can either be quartered if they are dense enough, or separated into just leaves. the turnips should be cut into discs and halved. The ginger and basil should be coarsely chopped, separately. The zucchini or other veggies you decide to add should be thick matchsticks or cubed to give easy salad bites.

Chop up the spring onions and the scapes, or leftover spring garlic, and the turnips, and set aside.

Next, you'll put your cooking veggies into a big bowl for a quick marinade

Put the choi, the peas, the bamboo shoots, ginger, and any optional veggies into a large bowl, and pour in 3 Tbs Tamari, 1 Tbs of Rice Vinegar and lightly massage the liquid into the veggies, and let sit.

Then, heat the sauté pan or wok

let the pan heat up until a droplet of water turns into a perfect sphere upon contact, then add 2 Tbs of oil and 1 Tbs of soy sauce, and stand back so the splatter doesn't catch you.

Add the onions and scapes/garlic to the hot pan and let sautee for 1 min.  Add your marinading veggies with their marinade liquid, again standing back to dodge any overly excited liquids, reduce the heat to med-low and cover.

Now, prepare your raw veggies

Get out your raspberries, sliver/matchstick your carrots, and make thin discs of your radishes and set aside.

Now add your turnips and basil to the sauté, mix and keep uncovered for 1 minute.

Then, plate your rice, and spoon some sautee juice onto it 

Once it is nice and juicy, add your cooked vegetables on top of the rice, and decorate with the carrot sticks, radish discs, and raspberries.  

If you'll be cooking for the next day's lunch, only combine the veg and rice when it's time to serve.

Enjoy!

Oh and I promise it's just as delicious when it's messy :)