What on Earth is a Kohlrabi? What do I do with it? Slaw it! and the Real Deal on Actual Vegetables

There are a lot of veggies we grow in winter that are new to most people we serve. I think the largest reason is the shuttering of farmers markets in the winter. Think about it, google it. Most markets are seasonal, starting in with spring and ending in early fall. Where do the farmers go? Does the farm shut down in the winter? What's going on? 

Well, I can assure you the farm doesn't stop producing here in California. We can farm year-round with little interruption. Rain, frost, mud and all- we're out working. We personally, as a farm, don't go to markets in the winter because they are not profitable. I suspect many farms make this choice. But why? 

Vegetables. 

We just don't like to eat our vegetables as a society. But no, Ashley, I eat all kinds of good stuff in the summer- I practically drown in salsa! Ah, yes, summer "vegetables". I am going to break your heart, but most summer "veggies" are fruit. Tomatoes=fruit. Okra= fruit. Jalapenos= fruit (I fully intended for there to be a tilda over than n...I'm on a roll and I'm not googling hot buttons now!). Even eggplant, tomatillos, bell peppers, the whole summer she-bang is fruit. So yes, salsa is actually a fruit salad. So, what on earth is a real vegetable? 

Roots, shoots, stems, leaves, flowers and florets. 

Is the thing in your hand one of these? Congrats! You're going to eat a real veggie. 

Why don't we like them as much as these other things we thought of as veggies? Well, sugar is one big reason, but taste is the other. Kale, cabbage, bok choi, lettuce, radishes, greens of all kinds are all kind of... green tasting, bitter, leathery, even spicy. They're just not appealing until you've found a way to like them. This is the reason I believe we shut down farmers markets in the winter- we don't buy veggies, making it not financially viable to come to the market, meaning fewer markets and less exposure to "weird" winter vegetation. That sounds like a terrible catch-22. What to do? 

Well, our farm doesn't close in winter, and we have a whole boat-load of things growing that are wonderfully tasty and healthy and get packed in your boxes all winter. So, we'll learn together. 

This week, let's talk about Kohlrabi. 

Kohlrabi is a member of the brassica family. It is related then to broccoli, cabbage, turnips, and brussel sprouts. This fun tidbit comes from Wikipedia, The name comes from the German Kohl ("cabbage") plus Rübe ~ Rabi (Swiss German variant) ("turnip"), because the swollen stem resembles the latter, hence its Austrian name Kohlrübe." Here is how it grows out in our fields.

Yes, it does look like an alien egg or a horrible spider-vegetable hybrid.  I have actually found a soft spot in my heart (and stomach) due to it's flavor and texture. It is crisp, yet yielding so it crunches without being too chewy and tastes a lot like broccoli stem, only better! It is great roasted, stir-fried, tossed into a salad, or grated into a slaw!

They come in purple and green! To break into the goodness, snip or slice off the leaves that are left (they're edible too! eat them like greens!) and peel if you're using a storage variety or don't peel if it's fresh. Wait- how do I know which it is?! Is it smallish- fist sized or less and have a lot of healthy looking leaves? How are those scaby parts where the old leaves were cut off in the field- are they a little scabbed over or do they look leathery? If you have fresh leaves and fresh scabs you have a fresh one! Old or no leaves and old scabbing is a storage variety. Both are good to eat and can be used interchangeably, just peel the storage variety because the skin hardens to protect the plant and doesn't taste good because of it.

Now, you have met and aquainted yourself with your new brassica friend, what should you do with it? SLAW! Here is a fun, easy recipe to try out!

Kohlrabi and Carrot Slaw

1 Bunch carrots- grated or julienned

1 large kohlrabi- grated or julienned

1 bunch radishes- grated or julienned

1 C dried fruit

½ C nuts- chopped

Olive oil

1 Lemon-juiced

Maple syrup

Prep veggies and toss in bowl. Toast nuts and mix in with fruit (I suggest cranberries and your almonds!) Mix oil, lemon, and maple syrup together and dress salad. Enjoy!

Variations:

-Add spice! Hot and sweet!

-Add in a bit of cabbage for a more traditional slaw

-Add sprouts for an extra crunch

-Serve with pulled pork on a sammich!

Enjoy!

Eating with Tender Heart Farms: Fall Celebration Salad and Mid-East Sammich

The most common complaint and cause for farm-box cancellation is, "I don't cook enough". As modern, busy people, I get that the last thing you want to do after 9 hours at the office, gridlock traffic and whatever familial obligations you have- dinner seems a pretty low priority. To be perfectly honest, after a long day of hoeing, transplanting thousands of plants, seeding, or harvesting vegetation- one of the last things I want to do is touch more vegetables. So, I get it...but I don't accept it.

It's a vicious cycle I find myself in often: you're tired don't want to cook, especially anything healthy, so you open the box of mac and cheese, break out the frozen burrito, or dial your trusty neighborhood take-out establishment. We're doing ourselves at least three disservice's here:

1.) This food is almost always not very healthy. It is full of comforting carbs and fats that make us feel satisfied initially, but are lacking in real nourishment like vitamins, minerals, vitamins and the like.
2.) Eating poorly makes us feel more tired...making us eat more poorly.
3.) It costs way more to eat out than to make the same things at home, and you would never add as much fat, sugar or salt as they do with processed foods.

This isn't revolutionary, or even controversial. We all know these things, yet we do it to ourselves anyway. Why? What are we saving time for? I can't answer that for you, but for me, when I engage in time saving dinner solutions, I don't use my saved time any more wisely. I'd wager the same is true for you, even if you'd never admit it out loud.

So what are we to do? Well, if you have come this far, and aren't already typing a scathing comment, you're probably in the boat of "Eating healthier is a priority for me, and I'd like to figure out how to do it more often". It's a long journey, and you have to accept yourself where you are. If you're new, this is all going to be strange and you're going to have to do some learning, actually, a lot of learning. Cooking and eating better takes time. There is planning, buying extra ingredients, stocking your pantry, research, and a lot of trial and error even before  you set in to chop two pounds of vegetation. You've got to assert for yourself that this is what you want and the work is worth it.

I'd like to start a series of blogs titled, "Eating with Tender Heart Farms". In it I will pick and prepare what I pack for my customers every week, proving that two people can easily make it through an average CSA type box each week. Honestly, I do this anyway, probably eating a box and a half, but I will keep track and take pictures so you can see what it looks like to finish a box a week. Please let me know if you think of something else that I can do in this series to help you through like keeping track of time in the kitchen or what else I buy or how much I am spending on extra ingredients or even what I eat the other 4 days I am not cooking the box (yes, one box almost always disappears into 3 meals with leftovers). I will also only use recipes I have given on here this past year so you can cook along with me!

Week 1

Box Contents:

Butternut Squash

Eggplant

Onions

Turnips with tops

Lettuce

Green Mustard

Kale

Radishes

Apples

Cucumber

I took the turnips and their tops, the garlic and the winter squash and added sausage, potatoes and a few pantry/fridge things to make this Autumn Shepherd's Pie. 

Here I took the lettuce, radishes, apple and cucumber and made the Fall Celebrations Salad. The recipe is listed below. The feta, garbanzos, and avocado addition made it really satisfying!

Not Pictured: Eggplant and Greens
Here I took the eggplant, some garlic, kale, onions and the mustard greens and made a dish that really highlights the best qualities of greens and eggplant.

Box= DONE!

Week 2:

Box Contents:

Pak Choi, Kale, Eggplant, Bell Peppers, Acorn Squash, Apples, Garlic, Pomegranate, Kohlrabi

I visited my friend Brooke and Keith's house for a weekend dinner. She bought some really beautiful salmon and we cooked up some brown rice to accent our stir-fry. I used the bell pepper and the pak choi from the box and added onion and tofu. You can find the recipe for an amazing stir-fry sauce Here.

This sandwich was amazing! I have become a huge fan of eggplant and greens together!  This is something to keep handy for lazy evenings. It's quick to make but doesn't taste that way! The recipe for all the components is down below! 

I made this C. Pepo Salad with the acorn squash, apple, pomegranate  and the rest of the kale. I added more lettuce, feta, and I subbed out maple syrup for pomegranate molasses. 

All of these meals were made the week I got the box, and all of them made leftovers for Tarra and my lunch the next day at work. A few made more than one day's leftovers, but seeing as how you only really cook 3 nights a week, that's a good thing for the other 4! 

How do you get through your boxes? What troubles do you have? Let's talk! Let's work it out! 

Here are the recipes for the past two weeks. Every other recipe is linked in the description. 

Fall Celebration Salad

1 head lettuce, chopped

2 apples, cored and sliced

1 bunch radishes, sliced

1 large cucumber, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

Blue cheese to taste

Prep and combine!

Serve with a honey Dijon dressing!

Variations to make it a full meal:

-Add chicken

-Add a hard boiled egg

-Add beans

-Add cooked whole grain

-Add nuts and croutons!

-Add sprouts!

Mid-East Sammich

Eggplant- sliced, drained, fried

Egg-fried

Onion Relish

Kale- chopped &massaged with curry oil

Feta

Slice eggplant, salt pieces and let drain in culinder for 10 min, fry in shallow oil. Fry egg. Assemble sandwich putting feta between egg and eggplant to melt.

Onion Relish

1 large onion-minced

lemon juice

cayenne

Assemble and let sit 20 min

Curry oil

1 tsp ea: ground: cumin, coriander, black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon

Add spice to oil, massage into kale (wear gloves!)

Johnson Grass, "Bloody" Tender Heart, and a Turkish Shepherd's Salad

This is my arch nemesis: Johnson grass root. As a weed, it is one of the nastier ones. It grows quick and will shade out and swallow any crop planted near it.  It has taken over a few areas of the farm, and we're doing our darndest to get rid of it. It has a few nasty tricks up it's sleeve though. 

Here is a close up of it's root: You can see that every nub you leave in the ground will grow a new plant. It is also clever enough to "let go" like a lizards tail if you try to pull it out. When left, it will grow like wildfire, sending its root out far, making new grass shoots at every root juncture. 

Digging sometimes leaves too much of the root, so we pulled out the ripper tooth to loosen the soil around the clumps so it would just lift out. In theory anyway...

We did have to go back and re-dig around the edges, aiming to get every bit of root. 

The dog even got into it. 

Here are a few of the "orphan" recipes from summer that got lost. These aren't entirely fall friendly, but you can keep them on tab for next summer! 

"Bloody" Tender Heart

1 large heirloom tomato

1 large bell pepper

1 med onion

2 stalks celery

2 cloves garlic

Spread veggies out in a glass dish sprinkle lightly with salt and olive oil. Roast at *450 until veggies begin to color and wilt (garlic and celery may need to come out first).  Remove veggies and pop into a blender. Strain juice through a large strainer and let cool.

¼ C lemon and lime juice

1 Tbs Tabasco

1 Tbs fresh grated horseradish

½ Tbs Old Bay Seasoning

8 dashes Angastora Bitters

6 oz vokda

2 stalks Celery

Assemble and enjoy! 

Turkish Shepherd’s Salad

1 med onion, sliced

1 head lettuce, chopped

1 bell pepper, diced

2 small cucumbers, diced

1 small bunch radishes, sliced

2 tomatoes, diced

Herbs (parsley, mint, cilantro, basil, dill)

3 green onions, sliced

Prep and toss!

Dressing: 2 lemons, olive oil, fresh ground pepper, musturd powder, honey all to taste

-combine and whisk

Add ins:

Olives of every kind

Feta

Za’atar

Chopped Pita

Toasted Nuts

 

How to butcher a squash: Meet my friends, Cucurbata Pepo and stab/roast them into a fall salad

These beauties are all cultivars of the botanical species: Cucurbata Pepo. Not pictured are the summer squash like zucchini  pattypan or crookneck, though they are also part of this species of squash. The whole cucurbit family as a genus includes: melons, cucumbers, watermelons, gourds, summer and winter squash. These winter squash pictured are all the "oddball" types. With the other winter squash family, "Cucurbata moschata" one method will work with all of them. Here, you must first know which cultivar you are dealing with before you decide where and how it will end up in your meal. 

This one might seem familiar to most people.  We're comfortable stabbing it in the face decoratively and letting it rot on our porch for awhile, but eating it might be new. The best way to break the pumpkin down for cooking is to first find where it likes to sit flat. Sometimes that is this way pictured, and sometimes it is on it's ground spot (where it sat on the ground and is differently colored and slightly flattened). Take a large, heavy chef's knife and stab it in the face, careful of your hands. Once the initial cut is made, tip the pumpkin and continue the cut with the knife longitudinally so you have two mirrored halves. The stem will give you trouble, do your best. Scoop the seeds, and clean and save for roasting! Roast your halved fruit with a bit of oil on a cookie sheet, cut side up on 350* until a knife slides easily though. Let cool out of the oven and scoop out flesh for puree or use a melon baller for putting in salads. You can also stuff these guys and leave the flesh in like a pumpkin bowl, or scoop the flesh out mix in stuffing, and serve in the half. 

This member of C. Pepo is a spaghetti squash. Aptly named for its stringy nature. Like with the pumpkin above, we need to halve it to get to the good stuff. This one is tricky though, as it really doesn't lay flat. A large, heavy knife is your best friend here. Lay it parallel with the knife so you're going to cut it in half the long way, remove all hands, children and pets from the danger zone, and WHACK! I find aiming to use the heavier butt of the knife gives me more umph. Once you have an initial cut, you should be able to finish the job a bit safer. Again, the stem will give you trouble. Gently clean out the seeds (you may eat them) and roast at 350* until tender. When ready, remove and let cool slightly. Take a fork and rake lengthwise to liberate the squash "noodles". People like to eat this like spaghetti with red sauce, but I think a garlic parmesan treatment serves the squashes flavor better. 

This C. Pepo member is an Acorn Squash. It has a thick, firm flesh that is good eating, but not great puree-ing. I love to stuff this one with meaty-bready stuff, topped with cheese and nuts. Though you can scoop out bits with a melon baller once cooked and add to a grain salad, green salad, soup, etc. The breakdown is similar to spaghetti. It probably won't sit very still or flat, so a hands-free WHACK is your best bet. It roasts up the same. 

These two have got to be the most user-friendly, last minute dinner addition, cutest members of C. Pepo.  Pictured here are (left to right) a sweet dumpling and delicata squash. They are thin skinned, thin fleshed beauties that are delicious and simple to use. WHACK them in half, scoop seeds and roast. OR, if you're super in a hurry, stab 6ish times in the face and pop into the microwave following your machines instructions for hard vegetables (likely potato button). These guys also have really thin skin that can be eaten! I love to roast delicata and slice into a salad with peppery, bitter lettuces. 

The recipe below would be wonderful with either the delicata, dumpling, acorn, or pie pumpkin. The spaghetti squash might be too grainy and not sweet enough, but if you really want to- go try it out!

C. Pepo Fall Salad

1lb squash- roasted and sliced or melon balled
1 bunch kale- massaged
1 pomegranate- de-seeded
2 apples- cored and sliced
2  lemons- juiced
1/2 C maple syrup
Olive oil
Pistachios or hazelnuts- toasted

Prep all veggies and fruit- add to bowl. Mix lemon juice, maple syrup, and oil in a separate bowl- salt to taste. Add to salad with toasted nuts and enjoy!

Variations to fill out for a meal:
-Add garbanzos
-Add a whole grain
-Add sprouts
-Add peppery greens like arugula or cress
-Add feta, blue cheese, hard salty cheese, or havarti