Kohlrabi again

From Deborah Madison — Blog by Deborah Madison

May 31, 2009

I just saw the note on kohlrabi and it made me smile because this weird little vegetable is one that seems to show up in every CSA box and no one knows what to do with it. I know because I get a lot of e-mails about how to use this space-age looking critter - that and kale.

But it’s true— it’s delicious raw, very mild and pleasant. I serve it as a crudite with some crunchy salt and that’s that. I’ve found a lot of recipes (mostly from Germany and Austria) that call for stuffing kohlrabi, but I would never do that - it’s just not necessary in order to enjoy it. But it’s also good steamed then tossed with lemon thyme and some butter - again, very simple.

A few years ago at an Iowa farmers market I saw a kohlrabi bigger than a person’s head! It was called a Giant Kohlrabi, which indeed it was.

Last year I grew purple ones and planted them next to yellow chard and in front of Dark Knight spirea. It was a beautiful edible planting, but because the kohlrabi looked so good next to the chard, I never did harvest them. That’s the danger of edible landscaping.