It is KOHLRABI season! EEEEKKK! I was so excited when we received our first delivery of kohlrabi a little over a week ago. I look forward to this time of year like you can’t even begin to imagine!
Wait…..WHAT? You don’t know what kohlrabi is? Oh Sweet Jesus–you are as deprived as I was up until 3 years ago!
Back in 2016 I had the pleasure of working as the Operations Manager at Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. If you have never heard of this fantastic farm, please check them out and make every effort to visit. Let me also clarify that I worked for the NON-PROFIT farm, NOT the for-profit restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, which is owned by the one and only Dan Barber. (side note, his book Third Plate, is an amazing and very eye-opening read). I digress….back to the story. One of the perks of working at Stone Barns was employees were offered a nice discount on their Summer CSA. I jumped at this and in one summer my palate exploded with so many fantastic veggies! One week, I opened the box and found this really bizarre looking vegetable. Green, with leafy greens, in bunches similar to beets. “What the heck is this?” I thought. KOHLRABI, I soon found out. GREAT, and what the heck do I do with it????
Not having a clue how to prepare Kohlrabi, I turned to my BFF Google for some advice. And let me tell you–Google did NOT disappoint. The number of ways to prepare this veggie seemed endless. Roasted. Fried. Raw. Sauteed. Stir-fried. As a salad. In a slaw. There were even recipes for the greens! And, hating food waste, I welcomed those greens recipes with open arms. The first recipe I tried was a roasted kohlrabi recipe. And much to my amazement ALL FOUR OF MY KIDS absolutely LOVED it. Yes folks, you read that right. I actually managed something that, up to that point, I thought was virtually impossible–finding a vegetable that all of my kids would eat!
Versatile and liked by all–a win-win in my book!
Fast forward to now, and we are in kohlrabi season. As a way to introduce folks to kohlrabi, we just finished up our “Week of Kohlrabi” on Instagram and Facebook. I thought it might be a good idea to make a post on our blog with the kohlrabi recipes we tried this past week. Disclaimer–I am not a cook, so I cannot come up with my own creations, but I can certainly follow a recipe!
Here are the recipes we tried for Kohlrabi Week (note: click image to get to the recipe):
Day 1:
Kohlrabi Chips
Day 2:
Stir Fried Kohlrabi
Day 3:
Kohlrabi Slaw
Day 4:
Kohlrabi Fritters
Day 5:
Roasted Kohlrabi
Day 6:
Raw w/Salt (aka Too Hot to Cook)
Recipe: Peel, slice, sprinkle with salt, enjoy!
Day 7:
Crispy Apple & Kohlrabi Salad
As you can see, kohlrabi is extremely versatile! I had a soup recipe I wanted to try, but as the Northeast (and most of the country) was enduring an extreme heat wave during much of kohlrabi week, I could not bring myself to make that.
As the kohlrabi season continues I’ll try other ways to make it and share any good recipes I attempt. Look for a Kohlrabi, the Sequel post!
In the meantime, if you see kohlrabi in the grocery store (good luck–it’s HARD to find at conventional supermarkets) or at your local Farmer’s Market, grab a bunch and give it a try! And if you are in our delivery area, sign up for our service and we’d be happy to bring it to you. Our kohlrabi is from Hepworth Organic Farm. Happy kohlrabi season to you all!