Kohlrabi

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spring, fall

Kohlrabi bulbs will keep for weeks – they’re just huge juicy storage containers. But not forever. Refrigerate and think of interesting things to do with them.

I talked to Charlotte once about kohlrabi. She told me puts it in our boxes and then waits for the reaction. “It’s definitely a conversation starter for our members. I love to watch their faces when they pull the kohlrabi out of their box and wonder what in the world it is. We grow two 1,000 foot rows and that provides a few weeks of kohlrabi for the members of our CSA,” she said. Charlotte suggests using kohlrabi raw, slicing it thinly and adding it to your next salad. It’s a bit of a chore, but they are wonderful as a stuffed vegetable. Core them out like an apple, keeping the cored bits to add to a meat- or vegetable-based stuffing. Then fill them up, add broth or tomato sauce, cover and bake. Delicious.

(2020) Aluma Farm’s Veggie Pickles

Love that the Aluma Farm recipe helps you understand how much brine to make, depending on how many pickles you’re putting up. Really helpful for those of us pickling on the fly.

(2019) Mark Bittman’s Vegetable Pancakes

Vegetable pancakes seem to be a thing these days, and I love this recipe from Mark Bittman that will use up any vegetable you have on hand. You can use some of that lettuce if you chop it and maybe saute a little before mixing into the batter. Spinach? Sure. Grated kohlrabi. Absolutely. Chopped cabbage, probably anything from this week’s box except maybe the tomatoes which might turn watery.We eat these either with a little soy sauce or a little hot honey. That’s my new addiction and I’m not even a fan of hot sauces. But hot and sweet like the hot honeys people are producing these days? Love it.

Kohlrabi Gratin

Last week I was all about keeping that kohlrabi raw to enjoy the beautiful purple color. This week I’m about a gratin. It’s not an everyday dish, but it’s delicious.

Purple Kohlrabi Slaw

I love cooked kohlrabi, but it would be sort of a shame to cook that pretty purple kohlrabi. How about a slaw? This is an unusual take on slaw, using yogurt instead of the usual mayonnaise or sour cream. Apple is traditional in these kinds of slaw. When apples are not in season, you could use blueberries or firm chopped peach instead.

Kohlrabi Chips

No doubt most of you have experimented with kale chips. How about kohlrabi chips? This recipe comes to us by way of the Wednesday morning Dunwoody Green Market.

Jenn Robbins’ Purple Kohlrabi Slaw

Jenn Robbins of Avalon Catering created this recipe to showcase colorful purple kohlrabi. It’s just as delicious with the more common green variety but it’s perfect for the purple variety which loses its lovely color when it’s cooked.

Slaw wasn’t her only idea for using this vegetable. “I love kohlrabi! It creams beautifully with the greens mixed in, goes great in a potato salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette, we also shave it and mix it into chicken salad, use it in our cold weather glazed/scalloped vegetable dish and I have even seen a peer make kohlrabi kraut,” she said. So now you’ve got lots of other ideas for your kohlrabi.

Creamy Kohlrabi Slaw

www.cooks.com
A search on “kohlrabi” on this site netted three pages containing 27 recipes, including this traditional creamy slaw suggestion. It’s not particularly seasonable for Georgia, and uses other ingredients that I don’t typically have in the kitchen, however you can easily amend this to work in your kitchen based on what you have on hand: substitute a mixture of ketchup and mayonaise for the French dressing, honey for the sugar, cabbage for the carrots, or add thinly sliced red or green bell pepper.

notes about kohlrabi

Conne is off this week as a result of computer issues that have her down. Wish her a speedy resolution, but do so without sending email that might clog her inbox the next time she’s online! In lieu of her weekly creative inspiration, I’m going to talk with you about...

German Style Stuffed Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi season always reminds me of our neighbor Joy who told us of the German’s love for kohlrabi, which inspired a children’s song that she sang for us on the porch. This recipe sounds worthy of that inspiration! Make it easier by substituting Riverview’s breakfast sausage for the ground pork, paprika, marjoram, and caraway.

Roasted Kohlrabi and Butternut Squash

www.epicurious.com
This site catalogues recipes from Gourmet Magazine, and is my first go-to resource. They have many suggestions for kohlrabi, but I couldn’t resist this entry which also features butternut squash.

LeRoy’s Kohlrabi and Apple Slaw

The last recipe for today is from Julia LeRoy who just closed her restaurant, LeRoy’s Fried Chicken. I’m taking liberties with her recipe which was originally for turnips. It’s similar to a recipe Suzanne posted 2 weeks ago for kohlrabi slaw. I made this slaw, adding a little homemade horseradish mustard. Yum! I may never eat kohlrabi any other way. Of course if you have any turnips lurking in the refrigerator, add them to the kohlrabi here.

Kohlrabi and Rutabaga Gratin

This is another recipe from Jason Paolini, a variation on classic scalloped potatoes. Jason prepared this with kohlrabi and potatoes. I think kohlrabi and rutabaga would be a lovely combination.

Kohlrabi and Turnip Slaw

I mentioned before that I’ve become a big fan of kohlrabi in slaw. Here’s a recipe demonstrated at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market by Jason Paolini of Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch. No crème fraiche? You could use sour cream or yogurt or, yes, even mayonnaise. No turnips? Just leave them out, maybe adding another carrot.

Warm sauce: Anchovy and Olive Oil Sauce

Instead of trying to dream up with to do with all the individual components of this week’s box, I thought I’d offer an option that would feature several. Where one kohlrabi might not go far in a single dish, combined with some of its neighbors from the box, it can make a really wonderful meal.

I love the way dipping sauces bring things together. Here’s a suggestion for one warm and one cold version. They’d both work well for dipping sliced raw fennel or kohlrabi, carrots and beets (raw or steamed), or you can pour either one over wilted beet greens or Swiss chard. The ideas come from The Splendid Table, that wonderful NPR program on all things delicious.

This is the classic “bagna cauda” perfect for vegetables and bread. Don’t be afraid of the anchovies, although you can leave them out if you absolutely must. And if you have a garlic scape or two left over from last week, try them in this recipe. Also delicious over pasta, maybe with those wilted greens.

Yogurt-Cucumber Dressing/Dip

I’m sharing two dips, one of which use cucumbers in the recipe. Both would work just as well as a salad dressing, but I was thinking of them as dips for fingers of fennel and kohlrabi, and disks of summer squash and cucumber. Green Goddess Dressing is traditionally made with a mixture of herbs and anchovies, but you can adjust it to suit your household’s taste.

Vegetable Pot Pie

The folks at Moore Farms and Friends offer an alternative to the traditional CSA and in their weekly e-newsletter, they included this recipe. I thought it was a great explanation of how interesting recipes and dishes get developed. Enjoy it with any of the roots in today’s box. This is copied straight from Laurie’s email.