Garlic Leaves?

Striving to be less wasteful, I've been researching what parts of plants are edible before I hack off the usual bits and throw the rest away. When I made my young garlic purchase the other day, the guy at the greenmarket asked if I wanted him to cut off the stalks...but thinking they might be useful, I said no. (Besides, it was fun to walk down 9th Avenue with the beautiful green leaves bouncing after me.)

A little research told me that yes, I could use the leaves. So, I thought I'd try a stir fry similar to those I've been doing with leek greens. It sounded like the perfect pairing for my super-special red rice!

I ended up with loads of leaves from the four stalks in my bunch. I tasted one, and it while it was nicely flavored, it was super-woody, so I figured they'd need to cook for a decent amount of time. Along with 1/4 shredded chicken and a teaspoon of chili paste, I threw two handfuls of roughly-chopped leaves into the pan (I was afraid they'd be too garlicky, as they were super-fragrant). After about 5 minutes, they seemed to look tender, so I added some bok choy and a little soy sauce, which I sautéed for about a minute, until the greens wilted.

Well...I'm not so sure about the garlic greens. They added a nice flavor, but some of them stayed really woody, which made for some tough eatin'. I think they either need to be really cooked, younger, or used in a different way. Guess it's time to do more research!