Answer: It's a vegetable somewhere between a turnip and cabbage and this week it's in your box.
This strange yet beautiful form is a member of the brassica family (i.e. kale, Brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower) whose phytochemicals are regarded for their antioxidant properties. When you eat kohlrabi, make sure you peel them. Then use them grated raw in salad or cooked as a mash with potatoes. Or you can cut them into sticks and fry them like French fries and sprinkle with a touch of Bloomfield chili salt ( a product available soon).
Here's a recipe for a salad:
Kohlrabi, Carrot + Apple Salad with cilantro and lime
serves 2 or more as a side
1 medium kohlrabi (green or purple), peeled and finely shredded
3 carrots peeled and finely shredded
1 red apple skin on + finely shredded ( optional)
a large handful cilantro, roughly chopped
the juice of 1 lime or lemon
a good glug of extra virgin olive oil
fine sea salt, to taste
Combine everything in a large bowl, season well with fine sea salt and serve immediately. Other add in's: feta, finely chopped spring onions and some of the tops, mint leaves and walnuts.
This week you will find our first batch fava beans and much more: eggs, salad mix, carrots, onions, beets, miner’s lettuce, purple collard greens, kale, chard and herbs: mint and spearmint, green and purple sage, cilantro....
Note on fava's: I love fava beans. They define Spring! But they do take a bit of work. Note that they are peeled twice to get to the yummy green nugget inside.
how to peel:
- Remove the beans from the pods by running a finger up the seam of the pod, splitting it open and removing the beans.
- The bean has a thick skin around it which also needs to be peeled off. To remove the second skin, put the fava beans in boiling salted water to blanch for 30 seconds. Remove the beans from the boiling water and submerge them in ice cold water to stop the cooking process.
- With your fingers, squeeze the bean out from its skin.
- eat them right away with a sprinkle of salt or make a toast and spread some fromage blanc or any other fresh cheese and put the favas on top with and a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper. yum.