So, rewind to 2009, the first year of my marriage. I had been thinking for a few days that we needed to incorporate more greens into our diet. I know, I know, we're vegan but we weren't really eating many greens. We hardly even ate salad. That's weird because when I was a kid, I ate (and really looked forward to eating) salad almost every single day! Plus, when I was old enough, I was the one entrusted with the responsibility of making the salads and I loved decorating them and making them beautiful. I took pride in my work. Maybe I got sick of all those years of doing the same job? Or maybe I'm waiting until I have a child of my own so I can employ a family salad maker?
At any rate, I was really concentrating on this - how to incorporate more greens into our diet and how to keep it interesting. Then, I happened to turn on the Food Network and catch an episode of 'Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller.' Lo and behold, she was cooking bok choy - a green I had never worked with before! Sure, I had eaten it in Chinese restaurants. At least I thought that's what it was I had eaten! But I never dreamed of cooking it. Here it was, the answer to my prayers (or, at least, my concentrated contemplations), a new AND EASY way to incorporate greens into our diet! Hooray!

It seems like greens are the big thing right now. We just keep hearing more and more about the health benefits of greens. They are full of phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Bok choy in particular is an excellent source of vitamin C and a very good source of vitamin K, which helps with bone strength and alzheimer's disease. It also has many B-complex vitamins including folic acid (great for pregnant women), calcium, phosphorous, potassium, manganese, iron, and magnesium. As a cruciferous veggie, bok choy helps protect against different cancers and reduce LDL, the 'bad' cholesterol. And, I can not forget to mention that bok choy is a great source of fiber. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, this is most likely not an issue for you because you're probably getting adequate fiber since fiber comes from plant foods. Bok choy is also low in calories and can help with weight loss. Need I say more?

Little effort, great taste, great nutrition! This is my kind of recipe! This became a recipe I would make when I'd come home starving after work or running errands! You can certainly make tofu or tempeh with this, but I find it to be a satisfying meal with brown rice alone (or another grain). I have included a simple, easy tempeh recipe, that would go well with this without adding much more cooking time.

Quick & Easy Tempeh:

Ingredients:
1 block tempeh (about 8 ounces)
1 Tbsp canola oil
1&1/2 Tbsp tamari, soy sauce, or Bragg Liquid Aminos

Method:
1. (Optional) Steam or boil the tempeh for 10 minutes. (Many people swear by this. I almost never bother for this recipe, but I really love tempeh, any way you serve it)
2. Cut the tempeh on the diagonal into 1/2" wide slices.
3. Heat the oil and tamari in the pan on medium heat.
4. Add the tempeh. Try to flip the pieces so that more than one side gets tamari.
5. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, stirring a few times, until the tempeh is hot and golden.

Warning: If this is your first time eating tempeh and you do not like it this way (especially if you don't steam or boil it first), try a different method - marinade it, get a chargrilled tempeh burger, get creative. This is just the quickest and easiest method I know and that was the aim of this post.

Wilted Bok Choy:

The recipe calls for reduced-sodium soy sauce, but if you use tamari or Bragg Liquid Aminos (which I do), this becomes a gluten-free recipe.



Recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/wilted-bok-choy-with-soy-sauce-and-cashews-recipe/index.html