Side-Dish-Mania
Greetings fellow cookers! I hope the summer has been treating you well. Some of you may have noticed I had no journal last week. Unfortunately, there was no CSA produce for that week. The weather (although we had rain) prevented the farmer from picking produce. The problem was actually too much rain. The fields were too soggy and muddy to have healthy lettuces and other leafy vegetables. And, the beans, peas, and cucumbers were not ready to be picked.
The good and bad weather we have each summer is part of the risk a person takes when making the decision to be part of a CSA. A growing season can be wonderful and a person could get all the produce he/she invested in at the start of the season. Or, the season could be a bad one and produce low quality and/or quantity of produce. If we were living in the days of being sustained off of your own garden…I would have been hungry last week! But, patience pays off because this week I received a bounty of produce.
This week I received: kale, bok choy, swiss chard, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, kohlrabi, and raspberries. I almost didn’t have enough room in my bag to bring it all home! Of the produce I got, I had never tasted kohlrabi before, so I created a dish with that in it. Here it is!
Week 5, recipe 1:
Quick Kohlrabi Bites
Ingredients:
2 to 4 small kohlrabi bulbs, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1/2" cubes
Dash of olive oil
Dash of Rice vinegar
(Not sweetened, available in Asian grocery stores and some supermarkets. If you don't have rice vinegar, you could substitute something rather mellow - white wine or sherry vinegar, or even white vinegar with just a pinch of sugar added)
Kosher Salt
Fresh Black Pepper
Preparation:
Place the kohlrabi chunks in a bowl of a lidded, airtight container. Drizzle with a touch of olive oil, a good splash of vinegar, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Replace the lid and shake well. Taste and adjust seasoning. Place in fridge, shaking occasionally. They are best after they have marinated for a few hours, and will last about a week, becoming more intensely flavored but still largely retaining their lovely texture.
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The Quick Kohlrabi Bites are good tasting, healthy snacks. I would describe the flavor and texture of the kohlrabi to be a mixture between a radish (without the strong “spicy” flavor) and an uncooked potato. It still tastes pretty similar to a radish/onion with the seasoning added – but I feel that the strong odor and after-taste of an onion is lacking with kohlrabi (thankfully). These little bites could even be a side dish to a hamburger or other typical “cook-out” foods.
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With the other produce I had for the week, my roommate (mom) and I made other delicious side dishes. We made cucumber salad and zucchini on the grill. We even had fresh dill from our CSA to throw into the cucumber salad. YUM! I do not have pictures for these particular side dishes, but if you would like to make them at home, the recipes follow:
Week 5, recipe 2:
Sliced cucumber salad
Ingredients:
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 tbsp.
2 tsp. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 c. sliced pared cucumbers
1/4 c. red onions
Preparation:
In small mixing bowl; combine buttermilk, mayonnaise, dill, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth. Add cucumber and onions.
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Week 5, recipe 3:
Grilled Zucchini:
Ingredients:
Zucchini
Olive Oil
Sea salt
Preparation:
Slice the zucchini into long French-fry length pieces. Rub with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Place on warm grill for approximately 5-8 minutes or until tender.