Kohlrabi…it's what's for breakfast!

Last week, we received a humungous kohlrabi in our CSA share. I mean as-big-as-my-face huge. I used half of it to make the Kohlrabi Beet Slaw from last weekend's post.  But I still had a huge amount of it to use.

I poked around on the internet and found a few recipes for salads that included fruit. I, of course, didn't have all of the ingredients for any of them. But I did have a mango. So, here you have it:

Kohlrabi Mango Breakfast Salad

@2 cups of kohlrabi, cubed
1 mango, peeled and cubed
2 cups, blueberries
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon balsamic vinegar
lemon juice to taste
smidge of salt
Fresh mint leaves

• Mix the olive oil, lemon balsamic and lemon juice. Add chopped mint leaves and smidge of salt and set aside. 
• Mix kohlrabi and mango. 
• Add oil and lemon marinade
• Mix thoroughly. 
• Chill.
• When serving, add fresh blueberries, and additional fresh mint.

This was a refreshing, different, breakfast salad. Keeps for up to 1 week in fridge.

Hello, Kohlrabi!

Oh haaaaaaiiii there. Yes, I know. It's been a while. Nearly a year, in fact. I've been around the world again for work (Santiago-related post to come) and we've mostly been repeating prior recipes and enjoying what's in the freezer from last season's cooking marathons.

This week's CSA haul included the largest kohlrabi I've ever met. For those who are unfamiliar with kohlrabi, you can read about it here. About the size of three tennis balls and weighing in at nearly 2 pounds, this was huge.  Usually, I prepare it by fry-cutting it, tossing with olive oil, sea salt and cayenne and roasting it in the oven.

Today however, is a different story. I'm just back from two and a half weeks in southern Poland - another work trip. Long hours, late nights, little choice of what to eat or when to eat it. I did, however, experience lots of types of slaws. Cabbage, carrot, more cabbage, beet…the Poles have mastered the art of the slaw.

And so, inspired by the lunch ladies at the company canteen at our office in Southern Poland, I bring you:

Kohlrabi-Beet-Carrot Slaw

1/2 pound kohlrabi, shredded using the large hole side of the grater
3 large carrots, scraped then shredded
1 large beet, peeled then shredded
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon balsamic vinegar
sea salt
black pepper

Whisk together the olive oil, lemon balsamic (you could substitute with lemon juice, if you have no lemon balsamic), sea salt and black pepper. Set aside.

Shred the kohlrabi, carrots and beets using the large hole side of the grater. Toss together in a bowl. Add the oil & vinegar mixture. Mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Serve as a side dish with chicken or fish…or add to a green salad for color and flavor.

Connecticut Strawberry Ice Cream

24 hours - farm to freezer.

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts of fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, quartered
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
• 2 pints heavy cream

Directions:

• Macerate strawberries in 1/2 cup of sugar until well juiced.
• Add vanilla to strawberries
• Mash or blend strawberry mixture. I used a hand immersion blender.
• Add heavy cream and the rest of the sugar. 
• Mix well. 
• Add to ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer's directions. 
• When ice cream has reached the desired firmness, transfer to a freezer container. 
• Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap into the mixture to work out any air bubbles.
• Put in freezer until ice cream is well set. 
• Homemade ice cream is even better on the second day, when the flavors have set!
• Scoop into bowls and serve. 

A Ravioli Fiesta

I was away last week, and had a particularly wonderful dinner one night of butternut squash and sweet potato ravioli. I have never made ravioli before, but did some experimenting today and made several dozen raviolis in two flavors.

Making the Pasta Dough:

4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons egg beaters
water

Mix the flour, salt, egg and small amounts of water.
Knead dough, adding water as needed to mix in all the flour.
Form fully kneaded dough into a ball and set it aside.

Making the Ravioli Fillings:

Spinach and Ricotta
8 oz Ricotta cheese
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 teaspoon pesto
salt

Mix all ingredients together. Set aside.

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato
1 sweet potato - baked and mashed
1.5 cups butternut squash - baked and mashed
cinnamon
cardamom
cayenne
salt

Mix all ingredients together. Set aside.

Shaping the Ravioli:
Roll out the dough.
Place a teaspoon of filling about 2 inches apart on one half of the roll.

Fold the dough in half.
With a sharp knife, cut through both layers of the folded pasta, and then trim to squares.
Seal the edges by pressing with a fork.

To cook, boil water. Add a small amount of olive oil.
When the water is boiling, add the ravioli.
Cook until the ravioli rises to the top of the water (about 5 minutes).

We had the spinach/ricotta/pesto ravioli tonight with homemade tomato sauce. 

I've frozen the butternut squash and sweet potato ravioli for another day.

I Could Eat These All Day Long!

What do you get when you combine a zip lock bag of frozen fruit with a high-powered blender and a tiny bit of lemonade?

This is a frozen, zero point (for those following weight watchers) treat that I could eat ALL DAY. This batch included frozen apple, grapes and strawberries and a very small amount of lemonade.

Ingredients:

Some suggested combinations:

• Fuji Apple
• Strawberries
• Red Grapes

 OR

• Cantaloupe
• Mango
• Peach

OR

• Watermelon
• Blueberry
• Grapes

Directions: 

• Cut fresh fruit into similar-sized chunks. 
• Freeze in zip lock bags.
• Put frozen fruit into high-power blender
• Add small amounts of lemonade or other liquid of choice
• Blend on frozen drinks setting until smooth
• Serve. 

One half of a zip lock quart bag of frozen fruit makes two medium servings. 

Caprese Salad

Bruce is out tonight and I didn't feel like a big meal. With fresh farm tomatos,  locally made mozzerella and garden picked basil in the fridge, there was really only one thing to do. Caprese Salad.

Ingredients

• Tomatos, the fresher the better, chopped
• Mozzerella, the fresher the better, cubed
• Basil, the fresher the better, hand shredded
• Olive Oil, 1 tbsp
• Balsamic Vinegar, to taste

Mix. Pour wine. Eat.

Assuming all the other ingredients are fresh, the only way to ruin this meal is to use sub-par balsamic vinegar. Mine comes from Di Bruno Brothers. If you haven't heard of them, go here for their mail-order website. This is a great place to find gifts when you just can't send another basket of fruit or boquet of flowers and you're looking for something different and yummy. I can personally attest that the Abbondanza gift box is out of this world.