Farmers’ Market Stir Fry

After visiting the Farmers’ Market on Saturday I had some lovely produce just begging to be cooked up into something delicious.  Three of the stars were a head of bok choy, garlic scapes and black bean tempeh. I had never worked with garlic scapes before, but when I saw their curly green tendrils I just couldn’t resist their charms.  I did a little research and learned that they can basically be used as a scallion would, only they impart a garlic flavor instead of onion.  They are also great for making pesto, which is what I’ll do with the leftovers.

We love Asian food in our house, so this was a total no brainer.  It’s also great for all the veegs out there, totally vegan friendly! Honey can be substituted if that is a no-no too, just use a bit of raw sugar.

Farmers’ Market Stir Fry
Serves Two, serve over brown rice

Ingredients
2/3 of a block of black bean tempeh (or regular tempeh, chicken, shrimp, beef, etc.)
1 head of bok choy
4 garlic scapes
1 tbsp. un-sweetened natural peanut butter
1 tsp. chili garlic paste (find it in the Asian aisle or at an Asian market)
1, 1-inch piece of peeled ginger
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. corn starch
1 tsp. honey
1/4 cup of water or vegetable broth
Cooking spray

1.) Using a microplane grate the ginger. It actually works better if the ginger is frozen (it also lasts longer in the freezer). If you don’t have a microplane, finely chop it.
2.) Combine ginger, peanut butter, chili paste, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, corn starch and water in a small bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds to melt the peanut butter.
3.) Cut the first 1/8″ inch off the bottom of the bok choy. Separate each leaf. Thoroughly rinse off dirt and dry.
4.) Chop the garlic scapes into 1 inch pieces.
5.) Chop the tempeh into 1 inch cubes.
6.) Turn a wok on to medium high heat. Once hot, spray with cooking spray.
7.) Saute the garlic scapes for 1-2 minutes, then add the bok choy. Saute another 1-2 minutes.
8.) Add the tempeh and sauce. Turn off the heat and stir to combine and warm the tempeh.
9.) Serve over brown rice!