Vegetable Soup

Sometimes, only sometimes though, I am a bit of a slow learner.

M has been in school for 1 1/2 school years now.  I've packed countless lunches, the majority of them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a piece fruit, raw vegetables or edamame, a cheese stick, and a snack.  I haven't varied much from this, because M is happy with this lunch.  After a year and a half packing pb&j sandwiches for lunch, I've discovered an alternative--the thermos.

I can hear everyone sighing and saying, "Well, duh, Melani. Those have been around as long as sliced deli meat" (I am making this up, by the way, don't quote me!).  However, like I stated in the beginning, sometimes I am slow.

This vegetable soup has been one of M's favorite things to take her new thermos.  She's been asking for me to make it again, both for supper and leftovers for lunches.  Everyone else liked it too.

When I made this, I looked at the recipe and thought, another minestrone recipe just not labeled as minestrone.  I guess it's not though.  There is no pasta or cannellini beans.  It could easily be made vegetarian by omitting the pork listed in the beginning and using a well flavored vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock.  I actually didn't have potatoes when I made this, so I left them out and upped the amount of carrots I used.  I also threw in some celery for good measure.  Feel free to use the vegetables you have on hand.  I could see this being a good recipe to throw some kohlrabi in.

I found this recipe at The Year in Food.  There aren't a ton of posts, but when she does, the pictures are beautiful and the layout is uncluttered.  There are usually a lot of vegetables featured, sometimes strange grains (quinoa), and it follows the agrarian calendar.

This recipe will make 8 - 10 servings.

Vegetable Soup 
adapted slightly from The Year in Food

4 oz pancetta or bacon (optional--can substitute enough olive oil to saute onion in)
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
6 c chicken or vegetable stock (or a mixture of either of those and water)
28 oz diced tomatoes (fire-roasted are especially tasty)
4 med potatoes, cubed (optional)
1 -2 sm/med kohlrabi, peeled and diced (optional)
1 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
red chile flakes, to garnish
Parmesan or cheddar cheese, to garnish

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the bacon or pancetta and cook until the fat is rendered and it has browned (especially in the event you are using bacon, make sure it is good and cooked).  Remove excess fat (more than 1 T).    Add the onion and celery and cook until softened and onion is translucent.  Add the stock/water and diced tomatoes along with the potatoes (or kohlrabi).  Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the potatoes/kohlrabi are beginning to soften.  Add the carrots and continue to cook the root veggies are cooked, but still hold together well (don't cook to easily breakable stage).  Stir in the kale and cook just until kale has wilted and softened.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve hot.  Top with red chile flakes as desired and a grating of cheese.

German Style Stuffed Kohlrabi--Don't make this!!

Only on rare, rare occasions do I post about a meal I don't want to repeat. That is what today's post is about. The only reason I am posting is because it turns out that I have made this dish twice and it's been disastrous both times. Curtis made everyone peanut butter and jelly (or honey) sandwiches when I made this last week.

If some serious tweaking took, place I may attempt to make this again. I would make this more like stuffed peppers. After scooping out the insides of the kohlrabi (and possibly even before, to make scooping much easier), I would boil the kohlrabi in a pot of water until they were mostly tender. I would saute the (hamburger) meat with the onion, kohlrabi leaves, and other seasonings. After stuffing the kohlrabi, I would bake it at 350 until everything was hot.

I don't know exactly why we disliked this so much. I think it was a combination of the texture and the seasonings. Sauteing the meat is a good way to start fixing the texture thing.

Sorry. This is post is most obviously for me, to keep me from making the same recipe, exactly the same the third time around (next year when I have 8 kohlrabi in my fridge again).

German-Style Stuffed Kohlrabi, from Epicurious (click on title to see the disastrous recipe). The saddest part is, I even managed to take a bunch of pictures that I am not posting because I don't plan on making this meal ever again.

Chicken Pot Pies

(This is getting republished because somewhere in the web, the recipe disappeared. You will also find a second filling version as well, which still needs a little tweaking and more flavor).

I've discovered a couple of new blogs, one of which is shutterbean. I found a version of this recipe there. I had to laugh though at the cookbook it came out of. This recipe in it's original version evidently is "man food," at least it came out of a cookbook called, Mad Men, Feeding Men and Boys. I didn't know men ate differently than women. I knew my husband used to be a vegetarian and still doesn't enjoy pork because pigs are smart animals. I know he loves a good salad or quiche. I doubt the changes I made to the recipe still qualifies it as "man food."

My changes? I added some mushrooms, kohlrabi (it was starting to multiply in my fridge), and dijon mustard and omitted the dill and the celery from the original recipe. I remembered my biscuit pot pie I made and decided to make the recipe mimic that one a little more. I used some left over cooked chicken I froze after having a rotisserie chicken. You could easily substitute some of Thursday's leftover turkey for the chicken. You could also leave the meat out all together and substitute another vegetable like sweet potatoes, turnips, or potatoes.

Everyone loved this dish. The individual pot pies were rather time consuming. You could also make this with one crust on the bottom and another on top in a pie pan. Curtis claims it's the individual pot pies that make it so "manly," though. The original recipe also said they can be frozen and reheated in the microwave or frozen before baking and bake them whenever you want them. I would like to make a batch of these and freeze the entire thing sometime to have an easy supper in the freezer to pull out as necessary. There is enough dough for 8 - 9 pot pies.



Cream Cheese Pastry
from Shutterbean

1/2 c butter, at room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 c heavy whipping cream (or whole milk will do in a pinch)
1 1/2 c plus 2 T flour (plus more for rolling out dough later)
1/2 t salt

Combine the butter, cream cheese, and whipping cream and mix until smooth, using an electric mixer or food processor. Add the flour and salt, process (mix) until dough holds together in a ball. Turn out onto floured surface and divide into 2 pieces. Form balls and then flatten each piece into a 5" disc. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie, version 1
adapted from Shutterbean

1 heaping c shredded chicken
2 T butter
1/2 c onion, chopped

Any combination of vegetables to equal 3 c (go for variety in colors, preferably)

• 1/3 c celery, chopped
• 1/3 c carrots, chopped
• 1/2 c frozen peas
• 1 c kohlrabi, peeled, diced, and cooked
  
• 1 c mushrooms

1/2 t salt
1 t dijon mustard
2 T flour
1 1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

Saute onion in butter in a large nonstick skillet for 3 minutes or so, until onions soften. Add carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms release their juices, about 5 minutes. Add peas and cooked kohlrabi, cook 2 more minutes. Stir in the salt, mustard, and flour and cook for 1 minute more. Add the chicken broth and stir until thickened. Stir in shredded chicken and Parmesan cheese. Cool (if it's hot, it will make the pastry very difficult to deal with).

Chicken Pot Pie v. 2 (the not as flavorful, needs more tweaking version)
adapted from Bon Appetit

2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed, halved lengthwise, triangular core discarded, and thinly sliced
1 3/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (approx 2 c cooked chicken)
1/2 c carrot, diced
5 T butter
5 T flour
2 1/2 c whole milk
3 T fresh lemon juice
1 t dijon mustard
(1/2 t worcestershire sauce---will add next time for more flavor)
1/4 lb cooked ham, diced into small cubes

Saute fennel in some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until fennel begins to soften. Add the carrots and continue to saute until carrots and fennel are soften. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add the flour and stir 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk and whisk until sauce thickens. Add the lemon juice and salt. Add chicken, carrots and fennel, and ham, Season with dijon, worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Cool completely.

To make Pot Pies (for both versions)
1 egg, beaten with 1 T water

Roll out cream cheese pastry on a flour surface. Using an overturned bowl (about 5 inches in diameter), cut out circles. Transfer circles to the side and repeat with second disc and leftover dough (rolling and cutting each disc twice---reserve leftover dough). Place 1/4 - 1/3 c filling in half of each circle. Wet the edges of dough with water. Fold dough over to make a half circle. Pinch the edges of the dough together and crimp with fork (unless you are running short on time and aren't concerned at all with appearances---then you can skip the crimping part). Repeat until all circles are filled. Put leftover filling a small oven proof dish and cover with leftover pastry dough. If you have time, chill for a few minutes. Right before baking, brush the egg wash (1 egg plus 1 T water) over each pot pie).

Bake in preheated 375 degrees oven for 20 - 25 minutes (for version 1) or 40 minutes (for version 2), or until golden brown (If you skip the egg wash, the golden brown won't happen). Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

You can also cool and freeze the pot pies for a quick lunch/snack/dinner at a later time.

Moroccan-Style Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew

I love stews, especially stews from cultures other than mine (which would be any stew with more seasoning than Worcestershire sauce and celery). I was excited last weekend when the weather turned chilly--I know it is short-lived and before long we will be hitting 100 degree days over and over and stews will be but a distant dream. Stews are my favorite way to use root vegetables besides roasting them or turning them into a pureed soup. I successfully cleaned out my root vegetables with this recipe. We all loved it, especially with a little bit of fresh cilantro (from my herb bed) snipped over top.

This recipe will serve 6 (and uses just a bit of chicken for how many people it serves!). My use of root vegetables weren't exact, I used just as much as I had; a little more sweet potato, considerably less kohlrabi, and I didn't even measure the turnips or rutabaga (but I suspect I used less turnips and more rutabaga). If I would have had couscous in my pantry, I would served this over top. Instead, I had to only imagine how good that would have been.

Moroccan-Style Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew
from Bon Appetit

1 T olive oil
12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 c onion, chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
1 T curry powder
1 T ground cumin
1 cinnamon stick
2 c sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 c parsnips or kohlrabi, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 c turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 c rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 c chicken broth (or 2 c of a water/chicken broth combination)
1/4 c dried raisins or currants
1 c canned diced tomatoes, drained

Heat oil in large pot over medium high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to pot and saute until light golden, but not cooked through, turning occasionally, about 1 - 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Add more oil to pot if it looks dry. Add onion to pot and saute until golden, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and stir 1 more minute. Add curry powder, cinnamon, and cumin and stir 30 seconds. Add root vegetables, broth, and raisins. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, and chicken with any accumulated juices to the pot. Simmer until chicken is cooked through and flavors blend, about 5 minutes longer. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Grandma's Boiled Pot Pie

I have no less than three pot pie recipes in my collection. Two are very similar---baked in the oven with a dough topping or crust. This one is different.

This is what I grew up thinking pot pie was like. My Grandma would make it and it was my absolute favorite thing she made. Rolling out the noodles is a lot of work, so we wouldn't get it every time we visited their farmhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, just on rare occasions. Pot pie was said as one word, kinda like pah-pie. It was until I was in upper elementary school before I was introduced to what others called potpie. Even for years after that, I couldn't understand why they called the baked aberrations pot pie.

Getting this recipe was a bit of a challenge. Like all good family heirloom recipes this wasn't written down. When I asked my Grandma for the recipe several years, she tried to write it out for me. I attempted to make and had to call her to have her help me figure out what she meant and what I was meant to do. I still use making pot pie as an excuse to call and talk to her.

The noodles are basically an egg pasta (duh, right?). I used the Pennsylvania Dutch method of rolling it out, which is pure elbow grease. I think I may be sore tomorrow from my rolling workout (I am serious--it used serious abs and arm muscles). I understand now why I didn't attempt to make this last winter when I was a 5 + months pregnant. The recipe itself goes fast if you have cooked chicken and broth in the freezer, which I did. The whole house smells wonderful. There is no better cold winter's day meal.

My Grandma's recipe didn't include kohlrabi. I've also made this with some turnips thrown is as well. The original versions only has carrots, peas, celery, and potatoes. I however, use this recipe as a good excuse to use up some of the root vegetables that have been collecting in my fridge.

January 2018 edit:  Last fall I went to Lancaster and watched my uncle make this.  He wasn't fighting with the dough nearly as much as I normally do.  It doesn't need to be so hard, I realized as I watched.  Thus I did some research when I got home, tweaked the recipe the a bit and now my noodles are even better!!

Grandma's Boiled Pot Pie

2 qts + 2 c chicken broth**
3 c cooked chicken, chopped**
pinch of saffron
3 medium sized potatoes, cut into large bite-sized chunks
1 c celery, diced
2 - 3 carrots, sliced
1/2 - 1 c frozen peas
2 kohlrabi, peeled and diced
a teapot full of boiling water

Dough
2 1 /2 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 t butter
1/4 - 1/2 c water

**can substitute one whole uncooked chicken. Cover chicken with water in a large kettle and boil until cooked. Use the liquid for the chicken broth. Remove the chicken from the bone when it is cool enough to handle.

To make the dough: On the counter or work surface, put the flour and salt. Make a well in the flour and add the two eggs and butter. Mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms.


Mix flour, eggs, and butter together with a fork in a large bowl.  Add water, starting at 1/4 c and continue to mix.  Add up to a 1/2 c of water, until dough holds together (it shouldn't be gritty or coarse).  Transfer to counter and knead until dough feels soft and "dough-like" (almost like bread, not quite that far, but almost).   Form into 2 round balls. Let sit for 15 - 30 minutes. Roll out on a floored surface as thinly as possible. Cut into 2 - 3 inch squares with a knife. If the middle of the dough is significantly thicker than the edges, continue to roll out squares after they are cut or cut the edges first, roll at the middle some more, and then cut the middle. Set aside. Do not stack the dough. It will stick together and you'll have to start all over again (with the rolling out).


Once the dough has been cut, begin the soup. Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large soup pot. Crumble a pinch of saffron into the boiling water. Add the potatoes and kohlrabi and cook just until the potatoes are tender. Drop the dough squares over the potatoes when the broth is boiling vigorously. Do not overlap dough. Broth should boil over squares before more dough is added. Occasionally add some carrots and celery. Once almost all the dough has been added, add the peas. If the pot pie is starting to look dry and there is not much broth boiling over the dough, add some boiling water (the boiling water is better than cold water because it allows the pot pie never to stop boiling). Continue until all dough has been added. Add the cooked chicken last. Taste and season with salt and black pepper as desired. Serve hot!

Kohlrabi Ham Bake

The kohlrabi had been accumulating in my refrigerator so I searched the web for kohlrabi recipes (epicurious let me down this time, I must admit). I found a recipe on SimplyRecipes (simplyrecipes.com) that used up all my kohlrabi and I had all ingredients on hand for. I was pleased that it used some of my leftover home for our Easter dinner. My mom (visiting/waiting to help with the homecoming of the new babe that is slow in coming) and Curtis liked it pretty well. M downed it no problem once she realized there would be no popsicle without eating it. J picked out all the ham and ate the kohlrabi only after he was sitting on Curtis's lap. Silly boy.

It was a good meal, especially with a side salad of mixed greens with sliced radishes on top. My only complaint is that the fat content for the meal was so high. I may experiment with it next time to reduce the fat. It was quite tasty though (with the cream and butter...).

Kohlrabi Ham Bake
3 T butter
4 medium- large kohlrabi, peeled and diced
8 oz thick ham, diced
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
3 egg yolks
1 c heavy cream
2 T flour
salt and black pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced kohlrabi and gently cook for 10 - 12 minutes (depending on how tender you want it). In a small separate bowl, beat the egg yolk. Whisk in the cream, flour, salt, and pepper until well combined. Place half of the cooked kohlrabi in the bottom of a 1 1/2 qt shallow casserole dish. Layer on the diced ham and parsley. Top with the remaining kohlrabi. Pour the sauce ingredients over the kohlrabi and ham. Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Serve immediately.

In the CSA box this week

Mmm...we had a full box of produce this week. There was nothing new or terribly exciting (like asparagus, strawberries, or peas), but I was pleased to have a full box to make cooking easier this week.

I've included a picture of the three root vegetables we got in our box this week, mainly because a couple of people at the pick up site were asking what things were. I figured I'd include a picture of those three things just in case someone else had questions too.

In the picture, from left to right are kohlrabi, radishes and Hakurei Salad Turnips.

Also in our box:
a head of red leaf lettuce
small head of butter lettuce
spinach
mint
bag of mixed greens
a couple of kohlrabi
a bunch of turnips
a bunch of chard (the white stem kind, not the usual rainbow, multi-colored ones)
a bunch of bok choy
1 grapefruit
a few small green garlic cloves
radishes
a bag of arugula
3 onions (Texas 1015's which are a sweet onion)
a dozen eggs

The corresponding menu---these things are likely to change depending on what I feel like making on what day and if baby comes any time in the next week.

Wednesday: A Somewhat Cobb Salad
Thursday: Breakfast for Supper--Arugula and Bacon Bread Pudding
Friday: Swiss Chard Tart
Saturday: Spinach Manicotti
Sunday: Easter Lunch--Ham, Potatoes, Bok Choy Salad
Monday: Possibly another chef salad type meal
Tuesday: Leftovers or something else...

Homespun Pot Pie

This another wonderful winter meal. Curtis says it is one of his current favorites. On our good days, everyone likes this meal. It is chock full of veggies so it's fine by itself or with just a side salad. I made this for the in-laws so I added a side of roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower.

There is a lot of flexibility in this recipe. The original recipe has no meat. I've made this meatless, with chicken, or this past time with leftover turkey I had frozen. Whatever root vegetables you have on hand you can add---just be sure to have 6 cups total of poultry and root vegetables. I almost always use sweet potatoes and white potatoes....the other 2 cups vary between poultry, kohlrabi, turnips, or parsnips. This can also be made ahead of time. Mix up the vegetables and save the biscuits to make until right before putting it in the oven.

Homespun Pot Pie
Vegetables
1 T olive oil
2 c onions, coarsely chopped
2 -3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t salt
1 t dried thyme (1 T fresh)
1 t dried marjoram (optional)
4 - 5 c mushrooms, sliced
1 T dijon mustard
2 sweet potatoes, chopped
2 c potatoes, chopped
2 c kohlrabi, peeled and chopped or 2 c cooked chicken/turkey or other root vegetable
1/2 t black pepper
3 c chicken stock
3 T cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 c cold water
1 c frozen peas
1 c frozen corn kernels (optional)
1 T soy sauce
1/2 t salt

Biscuits
2 c flour
1/2 t salt
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
6 T melted butter
1 c plain yogurt
1 t chopped fresh dill, or more (optional)

Warm the oil in a soup pot. Add the onions and garlic. Cover and cook on medium heat for 10 - 12 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the salt, thyme, marjoram, mushrooms, and mustard. Cook until the mushrooms start to release their juices, about 5 minutes. Add the root vegetables, chicken and broth and bring to a boil. Simmer 15 - 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Stir the dissolved cornstarch into the vegetables, stirring constantly. Once liquid starts to thicken, add remaining vegetables and seasonings. Pour into greased 9 x 13" baking pan. Set aside.

In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together butter and yogurt. Combine the wet and dry ingredients with as few strokes as possible to make a wet dough. Drop biscuit batter over vegetables. Sprinkle with dill. Bake in a preheated 400 degrees oven for 20 - 30 minutes or until biscuits are cooked through. Serve immediately.

Sausage Penne Bake and Braised Young Root Vegetables

Braised Young Root Vegetables is quickly becoming my Tuesday night clean-out-the- fridge-in-prep-for-new produce standby. I've experimented each time I've made it with a different combination of vegetables and I've loved it every time. J even ate a little tonight and M at least wanted some on her plate (although she didn't eat any---she didn't eat a lot for supper though). Curtis commented that he never liked turnips until he ate this and I said the same about turnips and radishes. In the picture, the radishes are the vegetables with varying hints of colors (except obviously the carrots). Tonight I made this with carrots, a small kohlrabi, three smallish turnips, and a handful of radishes. Mmm! It was great. I could have just eaten this for supper instead of the main course. Click here for the recipe.

Main course was Sausage Penne Bake which whipped up pretty fast because I opened up a jar of my homemade pizza sauce to use instead of the diced tomatoes the recipe calls for. If you choose to use premade sauce, just stop adding the ingredients once you get to tomato paste through the diced tomatoes. Everyone enjoyed this. M was slightly dismayed to see that the pasta and sausage were mixed together, but she got over that. I didn't use enough sauce when I made this because I didn't read the recipe closely enough. It still tasted great, just not as saucy as it would have been had I done better at following directions.

Sausage Penne Bake
Cook 1 lb penne pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat 1 T olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 1/2 c chopped onion, 3/4 c diced red bell pepper, 12 oz basil and parmesan chicken sausage (0r other Italian seasoned chicken sausage) that has been halved and cut into 1/2" slices, and 2 cloves minced garlic. Saute 5 minutes or until sausage is browned. Add 1 T tomato paste, 1 T balsamic vinegar, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t dried oregano, and 3 (14-oz) cans diced tomatoes (undrained). Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. (If you use pre-made pasta sauce, simmer until you are ready to assemble the dish). Combine the pasta and the tomato mixture and spoon into a greased 13 x 9" greased baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 c shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese and 1 c grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Old Bay Roasted Fish and Vegetables

I decided on Old Bay Roasted Fish and Vegetables for supper after getting sweet potatoes in our box this week. I had gotten the fish last week, but due to not getting what I had hoped for in the CSA box, I froze it, waiting for a week with sweet potatoes or arugula.

To make this, peel a medium/large sweet potato and cut it in half lengthwise and then crosswise into slices about 1/3" thick (little half moon shapes). Peel a kohlrabi (or repeat the first step with a second sweet potato if you have no kohlrabi. I just wanted to use up a kohlrabi in my recipe!) and dice it into small squares. Peel large onion and cut it in half and then into 1/2 " slices. Stem and seed a bell pepper and cut it into 1 1/2" chunks. In a mixing bowl, toss the vegetables with 3 T olive oil, 1 t dried thyme, and 1 T Old Bay Seasoning. Spread on a greased baking sheet. Roast in a preheated 425 degrees oven for 25 - 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender and browned.

While the vegetables roast, place 4 (6 oz) white fish fillets (I used tilapia, but you could use cod or halibut as well) in a single layer in the baking pan. Whisk the 1 T olive oil with 2 T lemon juice, 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1 T Old Bay Seasoning together. Drizzle olive oil mixture over the fish. When the vegetables have roasted for about 15 minutes, stir them with a spatula to prevent sticking. Put the pan of fish in the oven and bake until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 10 minutes per inch thickness.

This turned out great! The kohlrabi had a wonderful flavor and was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. Curtis and I really enjoyed it. M and J loved the fish. J had a few vegetables. M opted out of the vegetables for just fish. We figured with how infrequently we eat fish, a brief overload of fish was ok. I was worried the Old Bay would make it too spicy for the kids, but they liked it just fine.

Kohlrabi Curry

We hadn't had a curried flavor meal in quite a while so this was a nice change of pace. This was pretty easy meal to make. I would suggest having all your vegetables chopped before you start cooking.

To make the curry, saute a 1/2 c chopped onion and 1 clove minced garlic in 1 T olive in pot or large skillet (I used a skillet) for 3- 4 minutes. Add 1/2 t dry mustard, 1/2 t ground cumin, 1/4 t ground turmeric, and 1/4 t ground coriander and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add 1 c diced, peeled kohlrabi bulbs (cut all the little ends off) and 1 c chopped potatoes and stir briefly. Add 2 c chopped tomatoes (or 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, drained), 1/2 c water, 3/4 t salt, and 1/2 t sugar. Bring to a boil and then simmer until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 15 minutes. If you remembered not to just compost the leaves of the kohlrabi (which is what I did, so I omitted this part. It's good either way), add a couple of handfuls of finely chopped kohlrabi leaves and simmer 8 - 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 c edamame (or you could also use regular peas) and cook until edamame is tender. Serve over rice.

Curtis and I enjoyed this meal. J really like the potatoes and kohlrabi (and the rice). In this meal, the two are indistinguishable. Just make sure you peel enough of the skin off the kohlrabi. Otherwise, you will find fibrous bites spread throughout the meal. M somewhat liked it. She didn't dislike the flavors. She ate the rice great and picked out all the edamame. She claimed she liked the kohlrabi, but she didn't take more than a couple of bites of the kohlrabi and potatoes. Maybe next time she'll be more enthusiastic.

In the CSA box today

As the rain is here and the weather turns cooler, I think fall may actually come to our area soon. Looking inside our CSA box today was another reminder that 80's and 90's temperatures may soon be gone!

The summer vegetables are waning---less squash and cucumbers and the fall veggies are showing up. The boxes are full again, leafy greens take up lots of space! There are several photos today because some of the produce are not your common everyday school cafeteria lunch variety.

In the box (M helped inventory by counting and sorting):
a dozen eggs (which brings my grand total of eggs in the fridge to 20!!)
a bunch of bok choy (plus a second bunch I got from the trade box--pictured at top)
bunch of basil
bunch of kale (I am guessing between 1/2 lb and a 1 lb)
three kohlrabi (the second picture down)
6 eggplant of various colors, shapes and sizes (third picture down)
a bulb of garlic
6 bell peppers of varied colors
a butternut squash
2 cucumbers (not the best looking)
1 summer squash
hot peppers (left in trade box)
okra (left in trade box)

I am glad I left the menu for today and tomorrow open! Tonight for supper we are having Sesame Beef stir fry using bok choy and bell peppers. Tomorrow night we are going to have a soup/stew using kale. I need to check the recipes to see what other things I need. If I can, I'll include the kohlrabi in the kale recipe.

A brief description of kohlrabi--it's a root vegetable. I have recipes for it using it as substitute of sorts for potatoes in a kohlrabi salad (that highly resembles a potato salad). I also use it chicken pot pie and a main dish with edamame (soy beans). I don't know a lot about it, but have found it tolerable to eat.