Adding More Greens to Your Diet the Chinese Way

I've learned a few things about eating vegetables since I went to live in China four years ago. I now know a variety of ways to cook vegetables so that they're not boring. I used to just throw some greens in with the rest of my food without thinking about how I was cooking them. Now, I find ways of building my recipes around the vegetables, only adding a little meat to each meal (occasionally adding no meat so that I can enjoy the taste of the vegetables).

At every restaurant in China there's a simple vegetable dish--usually there's a choice of a few vegetables that are cooked in the same way. This basic recipe can be used to cook almost any variety of lettuce or bok choy, and can even work with broccoli. Since returning to the U.S., I have found that this method of cooking green leafy vegetables is tasty and easy. The prep time for these vegetables is minimal, as is the actual cooking time. It's very important to have a wok to cook like this, but a large pan will work almost as well.

First, you will need plenty of lettuce--I've found that romaine lettuce works best, unless you can find bok choy. You will also need about three tablespoons of cooking oil, two tablespoons of light soy sauce, and six cloves of finely chopped garlic (you can add more if you like).

1. Heat the oil in a wok and place a third of the garlic in when the oil is hot.

2. Break the lettuce in half horizontally (cut vertically if you are using bok choy) and place it all in the wok. Stir the lettuce continuously so that all of it cooks.

3. After about a minute of cooking the lettuce, add another third of the garlic and the soy sauce.

4. Continue stirring the lettuce in the wok until all the lettuce looks like it is about to wilt. Add the rest of the garlic and stir for a short time.

5. Serve as a side dish while still hot. Break out your chop sticks and dig in.

There are plenty of variations to this recipe. If you enjoy spicy food, use chili oil or throw in some dried chili peppers to the first third of garlic. If you plan to use broccoli, I advise cooking it longer and adding a little water about half-way through the cooking process. Broccoli is also good if you add some onion.