Or should I say kohlrabi! That is the new produce of the week. I had planned to prepare this produce last week after hearing several ways to prepare this vegetable. If you see this vegetable you would say to yourself, this must be a root vegetable. It looks that very easily it would burrow into the ground. Also if you translated kohlrabi from its German roots it would be even harder to sway you. "Kohl" means cabbage and "rabi" means turnip. Sounds like a root to me. Except here is the catch, it grows above ground, which takes it out of the root vegetable category (parsnips, turnips, potatoes, rutabagas, ect.). However after tasting the green leafs you could easily guess that it belongs to the Brassica oleracea family with broccoli. The tastes are very similar.
The vegetable could be art. I'm serious! They are very intriguing to view. First it has these huge crinkly, ruffled, and thick leaves sprouting on the top. The leaves are a gorgeous deep green and are edible raw and I would imagine lend themselves easily to cooking because of their thickness. When added to a salad they add great color, nutrients, and a heartier, more filling texture. Then at the stem of these gorgeous leaves are the most interesting object. I read on several sites it looks like a pale green or deep purple (called red - think the color of RED cabbage) sputnik. I would have described the shape as an upside down budding rose. This intriguing shape is how it is named after a turnip as it too resembles a spinning top. I mentioned the two colors as we bought both to try and compare side to side. I would say the difference in flavor is as noticeable as the difference between a red apple and green apple. Some will notice instantly and others might notice. The red kohlrabi had a sweeter taste. When peeled they are hard to distinguish (again think apples). The kohlrabi can be eaten raw and would add a little crunch to a salad nicely, but we chose to saute them as matchsticks. Great, mild flavor. Once you cut away the leaves please don't discard. What a waste! Even if you don't want to eat the leaves (but why, they truly are so tasty!) We used them as a base of our salads with dinner last night (Baked eggplant parmesan, YUM-MY! Totally worth eating close to midnight - long story about my mis-time management skills!) And my husband even turned to be and said that the kohlrabi greens added a lot of flavor to the salads. I couldn't agree more. And if you don't have a great greens recipe I highly encourage that you use them for floral decoration. They truly are that pretty.
So once the leaves are cut away. It is time to attack the turnip, rose, sputnik-like veggie. I probably did this wrong as most directions said cut away the woody bottom and then peel away from that cut. I had difficulty peeling and ended up using a knife to discard the thin colored peel. Once you get to the flesh inside it cuts so easily into matchsticks. Tiny matchsticks. We threw a little olive oil into the pan (just a thin layer to cover the bottom), sweat some onions and a little bit of garlic. One recipe included ginger but we didn't have any fresh on hand. After your onions cook down throw in the match sticks. It doesn't take long at all, no more than a couple of minutes. We then took advice from another recipe and added a little chili powder, lemon juice, pepper, and salt. Don't leave out the lemon juice. It pulls out the gentle sweet flavor from the kohlrabi. Delicious side, kohlrabi matchsticks!
I will say looking at this vegetable it can be intimidating. But so mild and tasty. Hopefully, you come across some fun challenges worth trying. Remember (as I say to myself) you don't have to like everything you try, but don't deny yourself anything out of unfounded fears. May your HealthFULL journey take you places you could never imagine. 'Til we meet again. . .
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