Baby Bok Choy Salad

Submitted by Leggy Peggy

"This crunchy salad is from my friend, Louie. The dressing keeps very well in the cupboard, and the quantities for it shown here are enough for three or four batches of salad. The cooking time includes toasting the almonds and pine nuts. Jen -- a reviewer -- is right. This salad is better if it is dressed a while before it is served. But wait to add the crispy noodles just before serving. Leftovers of this get a bit soggy overnight, but are still quite nice the next day."

 

• Ready In: 18mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• Dressing (enough for several batches of salad)

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1⁄2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1⁄4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar (or more, depending on your sweet tooth)

• Salad

• 1 bunch baby bok choy (about 1 pound)
• 4 -6 green onions (or more, depending on your love of onions)
• 1⁄4 cup slivered almonds
• 1⁄4 cup pine nuts
• 1⁄2 - 1 cup crisp chow mein noodles (Chang's Original Fried Noodles in Australia)

directions

1. Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. Set aside until needed.
2. Toast slivered almonds in a small pan. After about 1 minute, add the pine nuts and continue to toast both ingredients. Stir constantly so these don't burn. When nice browned, remove from pan and set aside to cool.
3. Chop bok choy in 1-inch pieces. Wash well to remove grit. Spin dry, or roll in a tea towel to dry.
4. Trim green onions and chop (on the diagonal) into 1-inch pieces (use both white and green bits).
5. Toss together bok choy, sliced onions, toasted nuts and several very generous sloshes of dressing. Try to dress this at least an hour before it will be served.
6. Sprinkle crisp chow mein noodles on top, stir well and serve.

Reviews

[PaulaG]

We really loved this different way to serve baby bok choy. This is not a make ahead salad. It needs to be served immediately. Made for *ZWT6*

 

[FLKeysJen]

Made for the Humble Soybean Game in the Asian forum. This recipe really intrigued me. The Chinese side dish I make most often is stir-fried bok choy, but I had never tried it raw. I still prefer bok choy cooked but would make this salad again - it's a great change if you're getting tired of the same old lettuce or spinach salads. Also what a treat that you can make it in advance, to have a side dish ready to go with your stir fry or other hot Asian entree. Note this salad is SIGNIFICANTLY better after the dressing has sat on it for a while and had a chance to tone down the bitterness of the greens. It was just O.K. the first day but I loved it the second day. I did not have vegetable oil so used half olive oil and half sesame oil. Thanks to Peggy and Louie!