It’s Friday. Time to get our CSA on.
That might be my worst intro in a long while (or maybe just a few posts), but honestly I’m not sure anything could top last week’s CSA extravaganza, where I dominated my greens and everything in between. It might have been my shining moment of the season; although there’s plenty of juice left in this tank. I prefer juice. It’s more green, and despite my city loving ways, I like to be green. What can I say? I’m a city hippy; picking up week three of my CSA (and apparently still rocking the odd intro).
My week three CSA haul included red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, broccoli, kohlrabi, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, a beefsteak tomato and more strawberries.
As far as the lettuce goes, I went back to my salad eating ways. I did a ton of veggie prep over the weekend and then ate a salad beast every single day for lunch, which helps balance out my recent ice cream binge, of which I have no regrets. Although I won’t be keeping ice cream in the house for the foreseeable future. I cannot be trusted.
I snacked on the sugar snap peas, since there really is no better way to eat them, and some of the cherry tomatoes.
The remainder of the cherry tomatoes along with my beautiful broccoli got sautéed in a quarter cup of garlic and gently placed on a bed of couscous. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The big beefsteak tomato made its way onto a pizza, with some fresh mozzarella and ramp pesto. My crust ended up being super thin, so if you want to call this a flat bread, I won’t be offended.
The strawberries got added to my morning smoothies and granola bowls. You’ll have to take my word on it because shockingly I didn’t take any photos. I know, bad food blogger, bad. I will punish myself this weekend, by mass consuming strawberries or something of an equally tortuous nature.
Last but certainly not least, is the kohlrabi. The kohlrabi hung out in my fridge for a good long time (translation: until yesterday) while I figured out how to cook him. He was the odd vegetable of the bunch, and I wanted to do something special with him. I thought about soup. At one point fritters crossed my mind, and I even found a recipe for kohlrabi risotto. In the end though, I did none of these things because they were all overly complicated or maybe just required ingredients I didn’t have on hand.
When in doubt, “Roast them,” I say. So roast them, I did.
I peeled and diced both kohlrabi balls (hee, hee), along with a sweet potato. I tossed it all in olive oil, threw in a couple of cloves of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and some Parmesan. Then, I roasted it all for a good forty minutes in a four hundred degree oven, until they got brown and crispy on the outside.
The end result: the Hubby said he’d eat it again, which is quite impressive considering mere moments before (i.e. an hour) he said, “Gross, what is that thing? It looks like an alien.” I’m paraphrasing, but you get the gist. After just a few bites, his new and much more appropriate response was, “This is a winner,” which means I am officially the winner of CSA Week Three.
Despite, or maybe because of, my laid back, easy breezy approach, I managed to eat my way through all the produce; down to the very last morsel (ignoring that one head of lettuce still hanging out in my fridge. Details, details).
Have you ever worked with Kohlrabi before? If so, how did you prepare it?
Excellent kohlrabi photography! This week I (and when I say I, I mean my kids) peeled the CSA carrots and kohlrabi, sliced them into dippers, and ate them with hummus that I (and when I say I, I mean me myself and I) whipped up with garlic scales-wtf-spellchecker-it’s-a-SCAPE-get-over-it. Hummus is my current love, since there are no beets in the house at present to compete for my affections.
This is why you need a pair, or a tribe, or a gaggle, of composting guinea pigs, with or without scale mail armor. Any dregs of lettuce will be a delight to them!
Maybe I can convince my cats to eat the lettuce, except they’re naturally carnivores. Damn, that won’t work.
I’m with you; spell checker needs to get with the times or at least install a farmers market produce edition. Mine doesn’t even like kohlrabi, and what’s not to like about balls that big.
haha! It actually does kind of look like an alien.
I love the MO of “When in doubt, roast.” Definitely wise words to live by! I also like, “When in doubt, Sriracha.”
Those roasted veggies look SO good and toss anything with sweet potato and I’m totally there.
Your M.O. is not too shabby either. I even thought about tossing them in a little hot sauce, but held back at the end. I figured I could use it as a last resort.
I’ve never even heard of Kohlrabi before which means you taught me something new this week (as if you needed another win to add under your belt). I think roasting (with parmesan) is just about always the way to go and I’m glad it works with that strange looking vegetable as well 🙂
Have a great weekend!
This is now my third time working with kohlrabi. I always get them at least once a CSA season and I still haven’t found a way I totally and absolutely love them, so I keep trying different things.
Everything looks SO good!! I am such a veggie lover! 😉
Thanks. Veggies make me happy too.
I’ve never done kohlrabi before but my dad grows it in his garden every year. He does soups, salads and stir fries with it. Seems like an “anything goes” kind of veg. I am so in love with your food photography! The broccoli and couscous picture looks like something you lifted from a food mag. So lovely!
Aw, you always say the sweetest things!
I need to probe your dad for kohlrabi ideas the next time I get some. That’s really cool that he grows it.
I love the city hippy designation. And roasted veggies. I’ve never had kohlrabi before–I saw them in the spring at the farmer’s market and had a similar, “What’s that alien thing?” reaction. Plus they were something ridiculous like $3 each. Eating aliens won’t really make me hesitate. $3 will.
I think city hippy is a good fir for me, right? Your logic makes me laugh. Thanks for that!
I’ve never tried kohlrabi, although I’ve heard about it for years. It looks so good (and simple) roasted up with the sweet potato. I think when you’re unfamiliar with a veggie, it’s probably best to go simple with it to start so that you can learn its nature and then come up with other ways to serve it. By the way, Meg, what are those little things between the snap peas and the cherry tomatoes that look like Chinese lanterns? I’m sure I’m going to be embarrassed for not knowing but I’ll survive. 😉 Have a great Sunday!
I’ve used kohlrabi a handful of times now (about once a season when I get it in my CSA) and it’s an interesting vegetable. It looks like a potato but tastes more like cauliflower (at least to me).
No apologies necessary. Inside the lantern-esque cover are Cape Gooseberries. I got them at the farmers market specifically because they were cute.
You have a great Sunday too Fran!!
Kohlrabi has got to be one of the strangest looking vegetables ever. I took some to show at the fair one year and I had so many people ask me, including one of my Vo-Ag teachers… “What is that?” My thoughts exactly. Lol. I don’t think I’ve ever actually eaten one before, although my grandpa grows them in his garden most years. I might have had it roasted before. If I bought one I’d probably make it into roasted chips or fries.
I think I’ll try chips or fries if we get them again. Great suggestion.
Looks like a great haul!
Thanks.
haha, the hubby seal of approval goes a long way!
Ain’t that the truth.
I actually tried kholrabi for the first time last summer after seeing a cooking demo with it at the farmers’ market! The lady just sauteed it up in some oil along with some onions, garlic, and a little S&P and it was so good! She also let me taste some of it raw…not bad, but better cooked. Oh and I juiced it too!
You juiced the kohlrabi?! Now that’s a genius idea. If I get them again, I’m absolutely trying that. Great tip!