When I cook for myself I like to keep it simple and light.
I don’t overdo it on sauce or seasoning and I tend to keep the ingredients list short, like … to under five.
That way I can throw something together for myself, in an instant and it’s easy, filling and most of all HEALTHY!
One of my best tips is to pick up an assortment of vegetables during your weekly trip to the farmers market or store, that you could serve up as dinner.
You don’t have to know *how* you’re going to use everything, just go for the nutrient-rich veggies that might make for a meal, and rely on your imagination and creativity to create different meals throughout the week.
You can bake, sauté and grill veggies.
You can pair them with a hearty grain like farro (if you’re not sensitive to wheat) or brown rice, or a even a seed (which gets classified as a grain) like quinoa.
You can even use a variety of noodles like soba, quinoa, or kelp noodles … serve it up with your veggies and you have yourself a fully balanced meal.
Bok choy is a great vegetable to pick up and so easy to prepare.
You can pretty much eat the entire thing too.
You just barely cut the bottom portion off, separate the leaves, then slice the leaves vertically down the middle or cut them into chunks.
This dish came together solely based on what I had in the fridge.
I don’t do a lot of meal planning, but I do, do a good theme night: Italian, American, etc.
I also do tend to make a few things on Sunday’s that I could use during the week, and always prep my farmers market veggies, so they’re ready-to-eat during the week.
I already had some cooked quinoa on-hand. I also had several bunches of baby bok choy that needed to get used.
I used three bok choy heads for this dish and decided it needed a little more oomph, so I added in some fresh spinach, then some nuts to give it some texture, and then sautéed everything together.
After sautéing the veggies for a few minutes, I added in the quinoa that I had in an air tight container in the fridge.
Quinoa is such an excellent source of protein. It might sound faddish to use, but it really is superb in so many ways.
It’s gluten free (which is easier to digest) and loaded with fiber and minerals. You’d be surprised how hearty it is and how it can serve as a main course.
Once the quinoa warmed, I drizzled a little nama shoyu soy sauce over the top. (Nama shoyu is considered a “raw” soy sauce. Although it’s not fully raw it is unpasteurized and full of living enzymes. I really like the flavor. Tamari is another good sauce, it’s gluten free.)
I divided the mixture evenly between two bowls, drizzled a little lemon juice on top for some added enzymes and flavor, and threw in a couple of tablespoons of cooked peas that I had made for my kids for part of THEIR dinner.
And just like that, I had myself a fast, flavorful, veggie-packed meal.
I could have easily done more with the dressing, but I’m trying to watch my calories, so minimizing added sugar and extra salt was the goal.
Otherwise, I would have done my usual seasoning which is soy sauce (a Tbsp), red wine vinegar (a splash), a couple of teaspoons of grade-b maple syrup or raw honey and a dash of chili flakes to balance out all the flavors.
You can also add in one garlic clove and a tablespoon of ginger.
You just grate in both while the bok choy is sautéing. It’s tastes great all together too, I was just trying to keep it simple.
I really like this simple seasoning choice with these veggies. (I made it twice this week. One with pine nuts and the other with cashews as shown above.)
The saltiness of the soy sauce and the *little* bit of tang from the splash of lemon, didn’t overpower the veggies, instead it allowed the flavors of the cabbage-flavored bok choy and the nutty quinoa to really come through.
*Sometimes great veggies just don’t need a lot of seasoning and bok choy is definitely one of them!
The best part of it all …it took just 10-minutes from start to finish. I mean, you can’t get much better than that.
Here’s what you’ll need for this lemon and soy, Bok Choy Quinoa Bowl.
Ingredients:
- 3 heads of bok choy
- 1 & 1/2 c. of fresh spinach
- 1/4 c. of pine nuts or cashews
- 2 c. cooked quinoa
- 1/2 Tbsp =up to= 1 Tbsp of nama shoyu (or any other soy sauce)
- the juice of 1/2=up to= 1 whole lemon
- 3 Tbsp. cooked peas (garnish, optional)
- 1 Tbsp of oil (avocado, coconut, oliv oil) for sautéing
Directions:
- Cook quinoa according to instructions.
- Cut cleaned bok choy horizontally into 2″ slices, or leave whole.
- In a pan, warm oil, add bok choy and sauté on medium heat for a few minutes.
- Once bok choy softens slightly, add in spinach and pine nuts (or cashews), sauté for another two minutes, then add in cooked quinoa.
- Stir everything together, drizzle soy sauce on top and take it off the stove.
- Divide mixture into bowls, drizzle lemon juice on top, add in a few tablespoons of cooked peas (optional) and serve warm.
*Yields 2-3 servings
**Notes**
**You can use any type of quinoa. White has a more neutral flavor, red and black tend to be bolder.
**You can substitute cashews or peanuts for pine nuts.
**If you have to cook quinoa it takes approximately 20 minutes. You can sauté your veggies while quinoa is cooking, take veggies off stove and cover, then toss in quinoa when it’s ready.
**You can also add in other veggies… 1/2 cup of mushrooms, sliced, and/or 3 stalks of celery, chopped. Just sauté them with the bok choy, then add in spinach, nuts and quinoa at the end.
**You can also add in 1 to 2 cloves of chopped garlic and 1 to 2 teaspoons of fresh grated ginger
**If you use olive oil, be sure to keep the heat medium to low when cooking. Some research shows oils cooked at a high heat can damage the oil and lead to harmful affects in the body.
