This delightful quinoa and asparagus recipe is embellished with baby bok choy and gently seasoned with Asian flavors — ginger, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. It’s a plant-powered pilaf that you can also enjoy serving cold or at room temperature, as a salad.
For a visual treat, try using red, black, or a multicolored mix of quinoa. Or just use ordinary tan quinoa, the dish will still look pretty and taste great!
Swap in any variety of bok choy: If you can’t find baby bok choy, simply swap in the kind with the large white stalks and dark green leaves.
What to serve with this dish: This can be a light main dish; accompany with a colorful salad that has added chickpeas or other beans. It’s also good with a simple tofu dish and a platter of raw vegetables and dip. Served in smaller quantities, it can be a lively side dish for everyday meals or special occasions.
Ingredients for this recipe
- Quinoa (1 cup raw)
- Neutral vegetable oil or dark sesame oil
- Fresh garlic
- Baby bok choy (3 to 4; or swap in a bunch of large bok choy if you prefer)
- Asparagus (about 8 ounces)
- Baby spinach or arugula (small amount; or 1/2 bunch watercress leaves)
- Scallions
- Fresh or bottled ginger
- Rice vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice
- Soy sauce or tamari
- Freshly ground pepper
- Dried hot red pepper flakes or gochugaru to taste, optional
- Chopped walnuts or cashews (optional; between 1/2 and 1 cup, as desired)
Bok choy basics
Bok choy is possibly the most widely known and available of Asian greens, In western markets, the term “bok choy” generically to describe the larger kind, with the crisp white stalks and dark leaves. But there are several other varieties, not the least of which is baby bok choy.
Baby bok choy is a smaller version of the former variety, with stems and leaves of a fairly uniform, pale green hue. Some are the size of a hand or a bit larger; others are small enough to be used whole or simply cut in half lengthwise.
Any of the common varieties of bok choy are equally good raw in salads or very lightly cooked in stir-fries, soups, braises, and pilafs like this one.
To prepare, you simply need to trim the bottom of the larger bok choy stalks and slice, leaves and all. Make sure to rinse well, as sandy soil is sometimes hiding in the stalks and leaves.
For lots more on this versatile vegetable, see our Guide to Bok Choy and here are dozens of Delectable Plant-Based Bok Choy Recipes.
Adapted from Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky, Bittersweet Blog.com.
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Quinoa and Asparagus with Baby Bok Choy
This delightful quinoa and asparagus recipe is embellished with baby bok choy and gently seasoned with Asian flavors — ginger, rice vinegar, and soy sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw quinoa
- 1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil or dark sesame oil
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 or 4 baby bok choy, thinly sliced crosswise (swap in 6 to 8 stalks large bok choy, with leaves, if you prefer)
- 8 ounces asparagus, bottoms trimmed, cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch lengths
- 2 big handfuls baby spinach or arugula, or 1/2 bunch watercress leaves
- 3 to 4 scallions, sliced
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh or bottled ginger, or to taste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice, to taste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari, to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Dried hot red pepper flakes or gochugaru to taste, optional
- Chopped walnuts or cashews for topping, optional
Instructions
- Combine the quinoa with 2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. If you’d like the quinoa to be more tender, add 1/2 cup additional water and simmer until absorbed. Remove from the heat.
- Heat the oil in a stir-fry pan. Add the garlic, bok choy, and asparagus. Stir-fry over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until tender-crisp.
- Stir in the spinach and scallions and stir-fry just until the spinach wilts, which should take less than a minute.
- Add the cooked quinoa, then quickly stir in the ginger, vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir together and remove from the heat. Grind in some pepper and optional red pepper flakes.
- Serve at once; pass around chopped nuts for topping if using.
See more tasty vegan main dishes.
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