Bok Choy

If the ingredient list didn’t tip you off, the seven-hour cooking time makes it official: This recipe is a project that you make for people you love. They’ll be thankful.

These steak kebabs are marinated in soy-ginger sauce, and served over a salad of bok choy, kale, and cucumbers.

Unstuffed wonton wrappers take the place of traditional dumplings in this simple and weeknight-friendly vegetarian soup.

Kimchi can be made and eaten any time of the year, but I really crave it in the spring. In this recipe, the kimchi and assorted quick-pickled vegetables are the dominant flavors, making a bright-tasting, tangy bowl. Pickling chard stems is a great way to use them up—they’ll add bits of celery-like crunch, and using rainbow chard means lots of extra color, too. Furthermore, the pickled components and the sautéed chard both keep well, meaning that they can be made in advance or packed up as good leftovers. Let the toppings come to room temperature before serving, so that they don’t cool down the bowl drastically when you stir all the ingredients together.

A robust soup brimming with mixed vegetables and protein in a rich dashi broth, this one-pot stew is eaten by Japanese wrestlers in training. It’s wonderfully hearty without being heavy.

Chicken soup with a head-clearing kick and a generous dose of seasonal veggies will sooth all that ails you.

Roast bok choy and shrimp marinated in honey and soy in a hot oven while a pot of kimchi rice steams on the stovetop for a nearly hands-off, flavor-packed dinner.

BOILING OR STEAMING bok choy often results in a watery, stringy vegetable. But grilling halved heads of bok choy slathered with miso butter leads to pure flavor. Be sure to keep the heat at medium so the paste can caramelize without burning. My first few attempts at grilling bok choy (I used Shanghai bok choy) resulted in charred leaves that were too crisp to enjoy. Now I separate the leaves from the stalks and use them raw in a salad that wilts under the heat of the grilled vegetable. Use white or yellow miso paste in this recipe. If you use a darker miso, know that it will be saltier. Make this side dish when you are already firing up the grill for the main course.

Sesame seeds have a powerful antidepressant effect and provide the basis for this healthy, restorative dinner.

Salmon, bok choy, ginger, and garlic are packed in foil and cooked on the grill for an easy dinner from Epicurious member Maggieingl. Sake and soy sauce create steam within the foil pack so be cautious when opening them—the steam can be extremely hot right off the grill. Add fluffy jasmine rice for an inventive midweek feast.

You can easily adapt this recipe to vegetables you already have to make a quick, healthy dinner.

Traditional Asian meals tend to be full of veggies, and this one won't disappoint. Also, peanuts provide protein and off-the-chart levels of resveratrol, the same heart-smart compound found in red wine.

Here’s a spicy noodle dish that’s packed with vegetables; covering the pan during cooking helps trap the steam so the vegetables soften more quickly (and retain their nutrients). Look for soba noodles made entirely of buckwheat flour; besides being gluten-free, they are more nutritious than soba made from whole-wheat flour.

Sablefish, also known as black cod, is among the best sources of heart-friendly omega-3 fatty acids. Here, the fish is combined with bok choy, which contains antioxidants and fiber. The hoisin mixture, brushed on top of the fish before broiling, is essentially a quick barbecue sauce.

In addition to the beneficial omega-3s provided by halibut, the green tea in this dish contains epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG—a powerful antioxidant shown to help prevent cancer. Quinoa is high in protein and fiber.

Cooking the chicken with the skin and bones intact ultimately makes the dish more flavorful (and economical), but feel free to substitute two boneless, skinless breast halves for the whole breast in this salad if you prefer (reduce the cooking time to 15 minutes). Bok choy, abundant with cancer-fighting compounds, makes a nutritious accompaniment.

When steaming asparagus, choose thick stalks over pencil-thin ones, which cook quickly and can become limp. The cooking time depends on the thickness and freshness of the stalk, as well as your preference for firmer or more tender texture.

You can purchase a whole roast duck at your local Chinese restaurant. Some varieties of noodles suggest soaking them in boiling water instead of cooking them; check your package instructions before preparing them.