Originally posted by Jess – July 14, 2015
The Bucks are back home, and the Andersons are remaining up in the beautiful North for a spell. We are totally soaking in the tranquility of the White Mountains, as well as the fun from local theme parks and activities. Life is good!
Though this is vacation, we still have to eat, so I’m still going to cook! Today I worked with some of the pak choi from the super greens share, along with some shititake mushrooms from the island of misfit produce. This particular side is an adaptation from Cooking Light.
First I heated the pan and a bit of coconut oil to medium-high heat. I sautéd the thinly sliced shiitakes and about 1/2 of a small onion (remember to freeze the mushroom stems and tougher onion layers for when you are making your next batch of veggie broth)! After the onion and mushrooms were just starting to brown, I added in 2 heads of the washed and chopped pak choi, (white parts first, followed by the green parts about a minute later) stirring for one more minute to incorporate the ingredients. 
I added in one half-cup of chicken stock (veggie broth works too), about one tablespoon of soy sauce (3 little packets-they travel so well) and about 1/4 cup of mirin (aka sweet rice wine). If you don’t have mirin, you can substitute 1/4 cup white wine with 2 teaspoons of sugar. 
I brought the liquid to a slow simmer and braised the pak choi until it was done. Clues were that the greens were wilting and the flavors were incorporating. 
I removed the veggies from the pan and continued to simmer the mirin mixture, adding in a few shavings of ginger root.
I continued to reduce the sauce until about 1/4 cup was left, and the consistency was getting slightly syrupy.
Meanwhile, I warmed some squares of tofu in a pan of boiling water. I have been doing a lot of tofu lately, I finished my Springdell meat subscription for the month and since the family is enjoying the tofu and fresh veggies lately, I’ve just been rolling with it. We have a meat pickup soon as well as a poultry harvest, so we’ll be cooking up something for the carnivores again soon. 
Once warmed and drained, I drizzled a little soy sauce, shaved ginger and sesame oil over the tofu, followed by a sprinkle of last season’s frozen Springdell scallions. I can’t wait to talk about preserving scallions when they come back in season!
The pak choi was drizzled with the mirin sauce and served with the tofu. A light and delish summer dish!
Tune in tomorrow for our “Honorable Mentions” post, in which we’ll share all the meals and recipes that we didn’t get to this week. Until tomorrow, my Fellow Springdellians!