Kohlrabi: friend or foe?

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is a relative of the cabbage family. To me, it looks like a planet with a system of orbits. But it tastes like, well, cabbage.

A few Tuesdays ago at the South Side Farmers Market, Josh Jodikinos of Jodikinos Farm gave me some advice on this planetoid-vegetable.

Josh said that some people think kohlrabi gets woody as it grows larger. But really, he assured me, it remains tender until the fall.

To prepare the kohlrabi, Josh suggested first peeling it like a potato, then slicing it like a tomato. (Make sure you peel off the entire outer layer. Otherwise, you’ll be chewing on bitter, sinewy strands)

Josh and Pedro from Jodikinos Farm

You can cook kohlrabi any way you can cook a potato, but you can also use it on a veggie tray—Josh had eaten one raw earlier that day.

I peeled and sliced the kohlrabi when I got home. Dipped in ranch dressing, it made for a nice, crunchy snack. Later experiments with the vegetable, however, weren’t so successful.

Wedding Soup with Dandelion Greens and Endive

This hearty soup would be good to make on a leisurely weekend afternoon, when the aroma wafts through your house, whetting the appetite of everyone who smells it. Not on Tuesday night when you’re trying to get dinner on the table, talk on the phone with your mom and do a few loads of laundry in between chopping greens and rolling meatballs.

Beth, my sister and tonight’s guest eater didn’t complain that dinner wasn’t ready until 10. But she sure scarfed it down. (And I noticed later there were gnaw marks on her arm.)

It seems there are as many ways to make wedding soup as there are people who make it. I looked at several recipes online before creating my own:

Wedding Soup with Dandelion Greens and Endive

Wedding Soup—the pasta sank to the bottom

For the soup:
1 bunch dandelion greens, chopped in large pieces
1 head of endive, chopped in large pieces
2 quarts (8 cups) chicken stalk
1 quart (4 cups) water 
1 parmesan rind or a cup of grated parmesan
1 cup acini di pepe or other small, wedding-soup-appropriate pasta 

 

There are only so many ways to entertain yourself while rolling tiny meatballs. Making a pyramid is just one.

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground turkey, chicken or beef
1 small onion, chopped finely 
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
chopped fresh parsley, to taste 
dried Italian seasoning, to taste
dried hot pepper flakes, to taste 

 

Simmering the greens

Combine broth and water in large pot. Add cheese, and bring to simmer. Add greens and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, combine all meatball ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or your hands. Roll in half-inch balls if you have the patience. Mine increased in size with my appetite.

After you’ve finished with the meatballs and the greens have simmered for half an hour, add the pasta and cook for 9 minutes or according to the package instructions. Gently add the meatballs with about three minutes of cooking time last—these go last because they cook in no time. Note that if the onions aren’t chopped finely enough, they’ll escape into your soup.

When the meatballs are done, it’s finally ready!

Beth, tonight's guest eater, enjoys the soup

Besides the taste, one of the best things about this soup is leftovers. After our late-night dinner, we had enough for four lunches, and more to freeze for a rainy day.

Making the meal

Cooking with a friend is fun. Cooking with a boyfriend offers some added benefits. Scot usually interrupts the meal prep for some smooching or salsa dancing (which is okay by me), but he’s also my favorite “sous chef” because he likes to chop and do the dishes. You can see some of his knife skills below, on the tops and bottoms of the bok choy. 

Bok choy

 Bok choy is a little spicy—like horseradish, but not as strong.

The ingredients

The green onions are left over from last week’s market. I’m considering the garlic a “pantry item.”

How to cut the oyster mushroom

Cut mushrooms at the end of gills, and discard the stems. Also, don’t overcook or you’ll end up with a rubbery texture.

Sauteing the bok choy bottoms with garlic

A drizzling of soy sauce and dusting of sesame seeds is enough to prepare the salmon

The meal

Scot's "happy plate"

Scot, tonight's guest eater

A serving of reality

Going to the farmers market without a plan was, well, not well planned. I imagined I’d leave with a bag full of vegetables and some blue-ribbon-winning recipes.

Instead, I left with green onions, radishes, rhubarb and pepperoni roll—not the dinner of champions. (To those of you skeptics, yes, pepperoni roll is indeed in season now in western Pennsylvania.)

Simple Salad with Pepperoni Roll

Joe King of Joseph P. King Farm in Valencia, PA, recommended radishes and green onions in a salad. While not a novel or exotic suggestion, the two ingredients paired well with the tuft of mixed greens and arugula I plucked from my small city garden.

With a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, the simple salad and pepperoni roll were better suited for a nice light lunch than the dinner I had them slated for.