Call It Chinese Celery

In the latest shares from the CSA, we've had a choice of bok choy or Chinese cabbage, which might have been confusing to some folks, because bok choy is sometimes called Chinese cabbage. But at the greenhouse, the two leafy vegetables available are Napa cabbage, also called Chinese cabbage, and bok choy, which apparently has the same nickname.

If I were in charge of vegetable nicknames, I would call bok choy Chinese celery. Though the leafy part is different, darker green with unserrated leaves, the stalks are quite like celery, and I’ve used it in the same ways in things like gazpacho this season. It really doesn’t seem much like cabbage to me at all, but whatever you call it, it is good in stir fry and soup.

Speaking of soup, a lot of my soup recipes begin with “pick the leftover meat off a roast chicken and then boil the bones for stock,” and my Hearty Chicken Bok Choy soup is one of them. I always figure on getting two or three meals out of a roast chicken; if you cover the bones with water and add a small peeled onion cut in half, a peeled carrot cut in half, and a celery rib (or bok choy stalk), some thyme, salt, and pepper, and a bay leaf, in an hour and a half you’ll have a nice pot of stock. Strain it, pick off any leftover meat still on the bones, cool the broth and skim the fat off, and then move on to the “real” recipe.

Hearty Chicken & Bok Choy Soup

Leftover meat from a roast chicken

5 or 6 cups of homemade chicken stock

2 cloves minced garlic

1 large onion, diced

1 bunch bok choy, leaves and stalks, chopped

6 small potatoes, peeled and sliced or diced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt, pepper, and herbs to taste

Put the olive oil in the bottom of a soup pot, heat, and add garlic and onion, cooking until soft but not brown, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add the bok choy, potatoes, and carrots, and toss with the onions until they are heated, 3 minutes or so. Then add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are beginning to get tender. Then add the chicken meat and whatever herbs sound good—a little thyme, some basil or a bit of pesto, maybe some diced hot pepper if you are so inclined. Continue to simmer until chicken is heated through and vegetables are fairly soft, another 10-15 minutes, and it’s ready.