Have you tried kohlrabi? I had never eaten it until I joined a CSA. I was missing out. Kohlrabi is from the same family as cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage—cruciferous vegetables that sometimes are called cole crops. It’s delicious either raw or cooked, and, honestly, I can’t decide which preparation I like better.
I opted for raw kohlrabi this week because I had marked a recipe for a kohlrabi and apple salad in the February 2014 issue of Bon Appétit in anticipation of this year’s CSA.
Kohlrabi and apple salad
There also was a bag of sugar snap peas nestled in the box. I never liked them as a child, and that caused me to avoid them as an adult. Two years ago when they showed up in the share, I was a bit apprehensive. I shouldn’t have been. They were delicious and a good example of why you should always give vegetables another try. After all, the little girl who turned up her nose at sugar snap peas thought circus peanuts were awesome.
Besides crunching on them raw, this salmon recipe is one of my favorite ways to eat sugar snap peas. I like the flavors in it so much, I often make it with haricot verts if snap peas are out of season.
In addition to the snap peas and kohlrabi, this week I received fennel, joi choi, spinach, mixed large-leaf lettuce, yellow set onions, chard, and baby red beets.
Baby red beets
Although sausage, lentils, fennel, and onions accompanied by garlic spinach sounds a bit wintry, it was a rainy week here in Chicago, and a hearty dish really hit the spot. The joi choi was stir-fried with red peppers, pineapple, green onions, shrimp, ginger, and garlic. I also prepared my go-to chard recipe and crushed beets with a lemon vinaigrette.
Fennel, lentils, onions, and herbs
Finally, it seems a bit strange to wax poetic about lettuce, but the heads of leafy greens that come in the farmbox have given me a whole new perspective on salad. They’re extremely flavorful and don’t need to be weighed down with loads of toppings. In fact, I like to eat a big plateful tossed with nothing but a simple vinaigrette.
On tap for next week: garlic scapes and English spring peas. This past weekend, I had dinner at the Publican, and in addition to several delicious meat and fish dishes, I ate a plate of spring peas and burrata that was divine. I’m planning to make something similar. We’ll see how that goes.
Do you like kohlrabi? What’s your favorite way to prepare it?