Chicken Stir Fry with Spinach and Bok Choy
Allow us to lay a little praise on bok choy, just for a second. It’s an extremely underrated cruciferous vegetable you should really get to know ASAP.
Bok choy is technically a type of cabbage and is a star ingredient in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cuisine. And it’s a nutrient powerhouse, filled with vitamins K, C, and A and lots of important minerals, plus phytonutrients like glucosilonates, which are linked to cancer prevention.
Its flavor is just strong enough to hold up to the strong profile of ingredients like soy sauce and chili paste and just mild enough to blend well with, say, peanut butter, scallions, red pepper, garlic…Is your mouth watering yet? Get cooking.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon chunky natural peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger root, finely grated
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil (split in half)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (split in half)
- 6 ounces chicken chicken, cut into 1/2″ cubes
- 1/2 cup bok choy ribs and leaves, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon scallion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup baby spinach leaves
DIRECTIONS
- Combine peanut butter, rice vinegar, tamari, and water in a small bowl. Add the ginger root and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and set aside.
- Heat half the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add half garlic.
- When garlic begins to brown, place the chicken in a single layer in the pan and cook for one to two minutes before flipping and cooking another 3 to four minutes.
- Add the bok choy ribs and continue to cook 2-3 more minutes until chicken is browned and cooked through, and bok choy is tender. Remove from skillet.
- Heat remaining oil in pan and then add remaining garlic. When garlic begins to brown add scallions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach and reserved peanut mixture. Cook 3 minutes, or until the spinach wilts and the peppers are slightly softened.
- Pour pepper and mushroom sauce over bok choy and chicken. Serve warm.
WHY WE LOVE THIS RECIPE
In this dish, bok choy is combined with a ton of other nutrient-dense veggies—like peppers, scallions, spinach, and garlic—plus chicken for protein. Not to mention how the sweetness of peanut butter complements salty tamari. Bonus: it’s gluten-free.