Steak and Bok Choy Stir-Fry

This is how we ended up eating our bok choy. Todd ate his dinner very well, which is a good thing since he was the one who requested the bok choy in the first place. I had to leave for choir rehearsal before we finished dinner on Sunday, so I wasn't able to supervise Ryan and hang with him until he (finally) finished his meal like I often have to do. As a result, there was still quite a bit left on his plate when I came home.

We eat a lot of stir-fry variations for dinner. This one has peanut butter as the base of the sauce, which I liked. It was not as "peanuty" as I thought it might be, especially since I doubled the sauce. I think I would have enjoyed the chopped peanuts sprinkled on top, but I didn't have any on hand. I'm sure Brett was grateful for that; he's not a fan of nuts in savory dishes.

As I was making this recipe I was reflecting on the amount of garlic we use. I hate peeling garlic cloves, so I buy a big container of the minced garlic to keep in the fridge. If Brett is watching, he always tells me "one more"--meaning add one more big spoonful of garlic. I would guess that we typically add double or triple the amount of garlic called for in any given recipe (more, if Brett's doing the cooking!). I'm just wondering, is fresh garlic that much more potent than the jarred stuff? Or, are we that immune to its flavor?

Skirt Steak and Bok Choy Stir-Fry
Source: Everyday Food

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound skirt steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 large head bok choy, cut 1 inch thick crosswise
4 medium carrots, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced on bias
cooked rice, for serving
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

1. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, vinegar, peanut butter, honey, and garlic; season with pepper.
2. In a bowl, toss steak with cornstarch; season with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet with a lid, heat oil over medium-high. Add 1/2 of steak; cook, tossing, until browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining steak.
3. To skillet, add soy mixture, bok choy, and carrots. Cover and cook, tossing occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes. Return steak to skillet; cook until heated through about 5 minutes. Serve over rice; sprinkle with peanuts.

P.S. For those of you wondering how the grapefruit was received, let me tell you. It's probably been at least a decade since I last tried a grapefruit. . . . I still don't like it. I was barely able to eat it, even after sprinkling quite a bit of sugar on it. The boys were pretty good sports about eating their grapefruit. Ryan sucked on his segments with no complaint. Todd took the equivalent of a few licks and would have stopped there, but he saw me sprinkling sugar on mine. I let him have some sugar, and he did a pretty good job finishing it, but he certainly wasn't begging for more. I don't think I'll be buying any more grapefruit in the near future.