Bok Choy Salad

Last weekend I attended a Havdalah service at my temple. Havdalah is the ritual you perform to signal the end Shabbat. My family and I attend this fun event once a month. It’s not only a chance to celebrate the end of the weekly ceremony, it also gives my boys the opportunity to get together with their friends, draw pictures, sing songs and eat dinner.

The dinner portion of the evening is always potluck. There’s usually pizza or pasta, a salad, wine and something sweet for dessert. I always bring something to share and this past weekend was no different. However, this time around I was asked to bring a salad, as the pizza and sweets were already covered. Of course I didn’t have any lettuce and since I didn’t have a car at my disposal, I was forced to be creative. While I don’t mind coming up with a recipe out of thin air, being creative with a time limit doesn’t suit me. And this is why you will never, ever see me on an episode of The Taste, Top Chef or any other cooking competition show.

I opened up my fridge and discovered the only things in my my hydrator were bok choy, purple carrots, ginger, tomatoes and kale. I like my kale cooked or juiced, which meant the only leafy green I had for salad was bok choy. I love bok choy and better yet, so does my son. It’s great sautéed and served as a warm side dish, but it’s also delicious raw. Crunchy and sweet, it kind of tastes like celery. I had several bunches of the bok choy so I decided that would be my salad. (The fact that there were several bok choy salads on Google made me feel better about my decision. But most of those Google salads were complicated and used several ingredients.) I lacked a lot of ingredients, so I wanted to keep the salad simple. I decided carrots and sesame seeds would be enough for the base and the dressing would really make this salad shine.

Unlike other salad dressings where I use olive oil and red wine or balsamic vinegar, this time I’d keep with the Asian theme and use rice vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil. The combination worked and I ended up with a delicious simple salad that was a snap to mix up. Even better was the fact that the leftovers were still crunchy and delicious 24 hours later. Guess this just goes to show I can actually come up with something when the pressure’s on and I only have a few ingredients to choose from. Top Chef here I come. Just kidding.

Bok Choy Salad (adapted from Running to the Kitchen)

Ingredients:

• 6 baby bok choy, washed and roughly chopped
• 2 purple carrots, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sweet soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Combine the bok choy and carrots in a medium salad bowl.
2. Whisk together the olive oil, sesame oil, vinegar and soy sauce in a small bowl. Pour over the vegetables. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the vegetables. Toss with salad tongs until everything is coated with the dressing. Serve.