I love Asian fare, but I can also see why people stay away from it in their own kitchens. It can be a bit daunting, especially all of those veggies with exotic names that most of us didn’t grow up with and don’t have the faintest idea how to prepare. That’s a shame, because most of them have a load of body-supporting phytochemicals. Here I’ve combined two powerhouses, bok choy and shiitake mushrooms. I prefer baby bok choy, as bok choy gets more bitter as it matures.

　　

Ingredients

serves 6

　　4 heads baby bok choy

　　2 tablespoons light sesame oil

　　2 scallions, white parts only, thinly sliced

　　2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

　　2 cloves garlic, minced

　　1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick

　　Sea salt

　　2 tablespoons water

　　1 tablespoon tamari

　　1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

　　1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

　　1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

　　

Step 1

Trim the bases off the bok choy and discard. Trim the leaves from the stems and cut both crosswise into bite-size pieces, keeping the stems and leaves separate.

　　

Step 2

Heat the light sesame oil in a sauté pan over medium heat, then add the scallions, ginger, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, and a pinch of salt and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the water, tamari, and the bok choy stems and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the bok choy leaves, lime juice, toasted sesame oil, and a pinch of salt and sauté until the bok choy is just wilted, about 2 minutes. Taste and add another squeeze of lime if you like. Sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.

　　

rebecca’s notes

Step 3

To toast seeds or nuts, preheat the oven or toaster oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

　　

Step 4

Spread the seeds or nuts in an even layer on the prepared pan and toast until aromatic and slightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Check frequently, as they can burn easily.

　　

storage

Step 5

Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for 3 days.

　　

nutrition information

Step 6

(per serving)

　　

Step 7

Calories: 150

　　

Step 8

Total Fat: 7.8g (1g saturated, 2.6g monounsaturated)

　　

Step 9

Carbohydrates: 16g

　　

Step 10

Protein: 10g

　　

Step 11

Fiber: 6g

　　

Step 12

Sodium: 585mg

　　

WHO KNEW? ’Shroom Sagacity

Step 13

Mushrooms, long a staple of healthy eating in Asian diets, are a bit of a yin-yang affair. They can have powerful anticancer effects, but they must be properly prepared. Integrative oncologist Donald Abrams notes that “people are often not aware that white button mushrooms, their brown cousins, the cremini, and their giant cousins, the portobello, really need to be cooked. Putting sliced white button mushrooms in a salad is really something we should avoid, because they may in fact contain hydrazine, a cancer-causing compound that’s neutralized when it’s cooked.” Abrams adds that he loves shiitake and maitake mushrooms for his patients, as both are good immune enhancers.

　　Excerpted from The Cancer Fighting Kitchen, copyright 2017 by Rebecca Katz and Met Edelson. Published with permission by Ten Speed Press.