Last summer I learned that Swiss chard, like kale, can be eaten raw and is especially delicious with a lemony dressing and toasted garlic breadcrumbs. You would think this revelation would have opened my mind and inspired experiments with other greens I had assigned to the cook-only category. It did somewhat — mustard greens and broccoli rabe, I learned, do well with that same treatment — but these discoveries were not enough to reform me completely. On Sunday, for instance, my friend emailed me her “tried-and-true” bok choy salad recipe, and I couldn’t help but think: Shouldn’t bok choy be cooked? It turns out bok choy makes an excellent salad, its crunchy stalks and sturdy leaves capable of enduring a bold, salty-sweet dressing. A slightly sweet dressing, in fact, is just what slightly bitter bok choy needs. My particular head of bok choy — the largest I had ever seen with tough greens begging to be braised and big, watery stalks — brightened under this assertive dressing. The whole salad, moreover, kept well in the fridge. The most fun part about this recipe, however, is the sesame-almond crunch, a mix of melted sugar, toasted almonds and sesame seeds, that comes together in a flash and disappears about as quickly. Warning: Do not in an effort, say, to get a jumpstart on dinner make the crunch ahead of time. It will not, I promise, last five minutes. When the sugar looks like this, add the almonds and sesame seeds: Thief! 5 from 6 reviews Bok Choy: Bok choy tends to be really dirty, so it’s best to soak the leaves in water before using: Cut off the very ends, separate the leaves, chopped them into ½-inch pieces, and let them soak in a bowl of cold water till the dirt settles. Scoop the leaves out and transfer to a colander to drain. Pat dry with towels — no need to make sure the leaves are completely dry. Sugar: The original recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of sugar in the dressing but I find 1 tablespoon of sugar to be enough. I suggest making it once with the 1 tablespoon of sugar; then adding more (or cutting back) the next time around based on your experience.
