CSA Week 9
By Julia
Week 9 brought the first tomatoes of the year!
This was my half of the loot, as I took the picture after we’d split it up. Left to right: yellow and green cucumbers, eggplant, green pepper, potatoes, green beans, kohlrabi, lettuce, amaranth, cherry tomatoes, a green tomato and a big ol’ spring onion.
I was excited for the tomatoes, as the reports of late blight devastating tomato crops had led me to expect that we wouldn’t get many. Those cherry tomatoes were as sweet as berries and were eaten immediately. The big unripe guy went straight into a curry, along with the eggplant, amaranth and potatoes (plus a can of chickpeas for good measure).
It looks kind of awful, but tasted amazing.
Last year I was a little stumped by the kohlrabi- the Joy of Cooking, in the background of that photo, suggested julienning and boiling. I tried to get into the root-vegetable spirit by fixing a Swedish-themed meal, but the cabbage-turnip flavor got buried in gravy and lingonberry jam. This year, I discovered this recipe that suggested slicing it thinly and tossing it with red onion and a caper and lemon dressing.
(The kohlrabi salad is that white one in the front, accompanied by a tiny steak, some roasted potatoes and rosemary, and some zucchini n’onions)
Oh yes. That is the answer to the kohlrabi question. I will definitely be making that recipe again. Also- did you guys know that if you rinse chopped red onion in a colander before eating it raw, it cuts down on the breath-funk? I can’t believe I have lived so long without that piece of science.
August 28th, 2009 at 6:26 am
I would love to know your curry recipe — I have two eggplants awaiting SOMETHING at my house.
And my daughter seems to love curry.
August 28th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Hi Kristen,
I started by sauteeing the chopped spring onion and eggplant in a couple T of olive oil. When the eggplant got tender, I added the chopped green tomato, the chickpeas, and the potatoes (which I’d cooked the previous day). When the tomato started to fall apart, I added the amaranth greens and a couple T of Patak’s curry paste (if you have curry fans at your house, it’s a great staple to keep in your fridge). A little extra fresh ginger and whole cumin seeds at the last minute, then serve!
I love making curries and stir-frys because they are SO easy and you can put anything in them that you happen to have around. They don’t photograph very well, though!
August 28th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I run farmer’s markets, and if I had a nickle for each time a customer asked me just what a kholarabi was and what to do with it, I would no longer be running farmer’s markets and would be writing this from the Grand Cayman Islands.
I’m glad to see someone find something to do with it that isn’t “eat it raw like an apple because I forgot lunch and I’m going to faint soon”, which is my usual answer to the kholarabi question.