This week’s CSA vegetables brought me a few surprises. I picked up my vegetables, as I do weekly from a local farm, and found lots of salad greens, more turnips that my baby Simon loves, bok choy, and scallions. I was also greeted with two vegetables that are new to me – swiss chard and kohlrabi.
I’ve eaten chard before, but have never prepared it. First of all, it’s a beautiful vegetable – bright green leaves with bold yellow and red stems. I’ve made it a point with most of my vegetables to keep the cooking simple and to taste them all for what they truly are. Since I was away for July 4th weekend with the extended family, I had a lot of skeptics watching me in the kitchen. I sauteed some red onion in olive oil, and added the swiss chard with the tough part of the stem removed. It cooked down quickly, like spinach and other greens do. I tossed in some halved cherry tomatoes right at the end of the cooking and seasoned with salt and pepper. Simple and delicious! The contrast of the tomatoes against the greens and those bright stems was striking. I quickly won over the entire family with a dish that took me under ten minutes. I also continue to keep in mind what I’ve learned from Sandy Gluck; if a green is too bitter for your taste, blanch it before sautéing. Using these tips, I now feel confident working with just about any green.
The big hit of the week was kohlrabi. Pronounced cole-RAH-bee, it looks like a big purple turnip with extra leaves. A quick search of Martha’s website brought me to this recipe for Kohlrabi chips. Sounded too good to be true. You don’t have to peel the kohlrabi? All I need is olive oil, salt, and pepper? I had to try it! I brought out the mandolin and thinly sliced it, then tossed with the rest of the ingredients and baked for just over an hour. I couldn’t get enough! If you come across a kohlrabi in your farmers' market or CSA this summer, you have to give this one a try!
1 Three kinds of salad greens: swiss chard, peas, bok choy, kohlrabi, scallions, turnips, and the herb savory
2 Kohlrabi chips
From: Michellem | 7/9/11 at 11:02 pm
When is Ryan back?
From: Jillian Macdonald | 7/11/11 at 9:44 am
Ryan comes back today!
From: Dawn | 7/18/11 at 8:00 pm
Hey Naomi,
I love listening to your CSA talk. I'm a part of one in Morristown, NJ. I was wondering if you received any turnips and what you did with them if you did. I've gotten a ton.