K is for Kohlrabi

My original plan for this week was to make my special "heart attack pasta," a delicacy of which you will learn later, because the downtown FM did not have the necessary wild mushrooms this week. Why not? Because it was FRIGID. Unbearably cold. M. in Chicago is probably laughing at my pathetic Texan definition of "cold" right now, but it was in the upper teens on Saturday morning. I had to wear GLOVES, for Pete's sake. The wild mushroom guy stayed in his warm bed, but in my ever-courageous quest for fresh vegetables, I went down to the market.

These caught my eye: I had never eaten or even really seen kohlrabi before, but apparently they were a favorite of Charlemagne's. The farmer who sold them to me described them as cabbage-like. They smelled delicious - sweet, a little sharp. I cooked them Indian style, in a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian.


All I can say is YUM. Madhur has you make a paste of fresh jalapeno, ginger, oil, white vinegar, and garlic in a food processor. Being lazy, I was inclined to skip that step. So glad I didn't - the paste made the dish taste tangy and fresh, and none of the flavors overwhelmed that sharp, sweet kohlrabi flavor.

The other veggie I picked up was some kale. As a fan of all leafy greens, I knew it would be good. Since I was looking to try a new cuisine, I decided to go Caribbean and cook this soup from Food and Wine.

It had potential. Eating it, I really, really wanted it to be a stew. The thin broth wasn't doing it for me. Granted, that was partly because the only can of coconut milk left at Central Market was the "lite" kind. I don't know when or why there was a run on coconut milk at CM, but it's worth making an extra trip to Wheatsville for the full fat kind. Good to know. All the same, I'd double the coconut milk and halve the stock. Also, it wasn't nearly spicy enough for my taste. Add jalapeno seeds! Double the jalapeno! Feel the burn!
One final change: kale cooks MUCH faster than sweet potato. While the sweet potato turns beautifully tender, the kale starts to lose its color. Still tastes good, but looks like something your middle-school cafeteria would plunk down next to your defrosted chicken nuggets. Add the kale about 10 minutes into the sweet potato cooking time, and you should be fine. It was quite filling, I should add. So filling that when I had it the next day at work, I didn't crave cookies all afternoon. And that's saying a lot.

With this Caribbean/Indian meal, I paired the lovely off-dry Banyan Gewurtztraminer from Monterey, CA (10.95). (off-dry=slightly sweet. Good to pair with spicy foods.) It had an interesting nose - almost like spiced tea. It was just sweet enough - slight honey tones, but certainly not cloying.

Next week - farmer's market potluck. Now - this blogger is off to bed to rest up before a 7 a.m. run. In theory.