wok

Blanching in a wok is the fastest, easiest method to cook vegetables that have hard stems and when you have a lot of them!  A wok is a perfect vessel, it has a wide opening and deep reservoir to hold the water and quantity of vegetables. Alternatively, use a wide deep pot if you don’t have a wok.

I learned this wonderful technique from my mom when she had to cook for seven of us in the family.  Even though there’s just my husband and I, I use leftovers for lunch or for the following night’s dinner! So, when my virtual Let’s Lunch theme challenge called for a three ingredient post, blanching came to mind immediately!

Vegetables that work really well are broccolini, broccolette, broccoli incl. Chinese variety, brussel sprouts, bok choy, mustard greens, asparagus, swiss chard. Actually, leafy greens like curly kale, spinach do well too, you just have to remember blanching cooks triple fast and leafy greens shrink a lot, so you need to do them in batches to get the quantity you need.
Ingredients:

2 large handfuls of broccolini
few squirts of olive oil
salad dressing of your choice (I used store bought French vinaigrette but usually my own homemade vinaigrette)

How to do it…
1)   Boil water in wok till rolling boiling, put a wok lid on.
2)  Add few squirts of olive oil. Best trick to keep vegetables from turning grey.
3)  Use fork to test stem for doneness how you like them, I like mine pretty crunchy
4)  Empty wok of broccolini into colander,  either run under cold water or put in an ice bath to stop from cooking
5)  Squirt dressing all over, serve with whatever dinner.

My Broccolini got featured in Tasting Table’s newsletter for a Spring  stir fry last week, another take on blanching with a stir fry thrown in, that’s how Wok Stars roll.

 
Let’s Lunch is a virtual themed lunch from food bloggers all over the world! Join by posting a comment below or on Twitter using #LetsLunch.  There’s also a private Facebook group where we hang out.  Check #LetsLunch posts below for other easy 3 ingredient yummies…
Gluten Free Almond Cookies at The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook
Mango Coconut Chia Pudding at HapaMama
Trinidadian Mango Chow at Spicebox Travels
Filipino Sticky Rice Logs at Asian in America
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies at Hot Curries and Cold Beer
Chicken and Dumplings at A Cook and Her Books (use Pamela’s Artisan Blend in place of AP flour for gluten free)
Turkish Sesame Sweet at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Roasted Asparagus at Glass of Fancy
Mac and Cheese and Peanut Butter Cookies at Tea and Scones (use Bionaturae pasta for gluten free)
3 Ingredient Broccolini at Be a Wok Star