~Kohlrabi made its farmer’s market debut a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn’t until a few days ago when I finally tried it. I’ve seen it sold in bunches at other markets, but I didn’t want to buy a whole bunch in case I didn’t like it. It wasn’t until I went to the Joliet Junior College (JJC, my alma mater) farmer’s market this past Thursday when I saw them sold individually. The market was a smaller market, maybe 15 or so vendors, but one of them had a decent selection of fresh produce to choose from. I immediately spotted the kohlrabi pouring out of a crate in the corner of the stall. I asked the woman running the stall the best way to prepare kohlrabi, and she said the best way was to eat it raw. Interesting. I asked her what it tasted like and she said that it was a cross between a turnip and a radish in taste.
75 cents later I took my single kohlrabi home and into the kitchen it went. I washed it and cut off the leafy top and proceeded to peel it. Little did I know how difficult it was to get it peeled enough without cutting away too much of the flesh. What seemed like an eternity later (actually it was about 10-15 minutes), I cut it in half and broke out the mandolin. My intention was to slice it thinly and throw it in the salad for dinner. What I didn’t intend on was slicing off a small tip of my finger on the stupid mandolin! Ouch 😐
But thankfully I’m okay and no blood got in the kohlrabi. I still had a bunch of slices left over, and instead of throwing it out, I made something of a quick pickle of it. I combined the remaining slices with apple cider vinegar, Twisted Olive garlic extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried lemon peel. I might have used a touch too much vinegar, but the combination was still good. I gave it a quick stir and left it in the fridge until serving time. The raw kohlrabi in the salad was just like the woman said, similar in taste to a radish but without the spicy aftertaste, very delicious and crunchy. And the “pickled” kohlrabi was pretty good, packing an acidic punch with a subtle citrus note from the dried lemon peel. If they weren’t so annoying to peel I’d buy more kohlrabi. But they are pretty tasty, so they’d be worth the hassle.
The Garden Goddess 