~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.
