The secret to eating bok choy is:

Grow your own!

I've frequented farmer's markets and participated in community support agriculture before, so I've cooked my fair share of esoteric greens. Even though vitamin green, gaillon, kale, braising mix, collards and bok choy are essentially the same species, some of them are more intimidating than others. (In fact, I've kind of always suspected some of them don't actually taste any better than a leafy plant growing through the cracks of the sidewalk, they just have someone ultra-hip marketing them to the general public).

Which brings me to bok choy. In the past, my bok choy experience has been lackluster at best. I've always felt like I was eating crunchy, stagnant water. But, while harvesting for CSA shares last week, some spirit moved me to take a heaping bite out of a head of bok choy.


Fresh bok choy = delicious.

In fact, there is must be a positive correlation between the time your greens have been harvested and their deliciousness factor. After all, greens are the leaves of the plant, and leaves are juicy and full of water up until you disconnect the rest of the plant from its water supply (the stem and roots) with a harvesting knife. The longer you wait to stuff those guys in your mouth, the less exciting your green-eating experience will be as they begin to lose water. On top of that, the water that remains in the harvested green leaves isn't being flushed out by crisp, clean ground water; stagnant water is not too tasty.

Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a hoop house full of greens ripe for harvesting, but that doesn't mean you have to subject yourself to puddle-ly tasting greens for the rest of your life. Greatist has a great article on growing your own stuff indoors, including greens and lettuces. If you can't do that, better ask your farmer when they harvest their greens; that same day in the early AM or the day before is best if you want the tastiest.

As for cooking them, try this recipe out:

Easy greens

You need:

1 head o' greens

3 tablespoons of peanut, olive or sesame oil

salt and pepper

You should:

1. Cut the leaves from the stems of your greens.

2. Dice the stems into small chunks (think: diced onion sized).

3. Chop the greens into small (1-2 inch) pieces. 

4. Put oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the stems in only.

5. Cook stems for 3-5 minutes, add in the leaves after that.

6. Add 1/2 cup of vegetable stock or water, cook down for another 5-7 minutes, or until stems are soft.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste and eat!

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I've been writing down the recipes my teacher has shown me in order to internalize them. A little crayola doesn't hurt for memorization, either.