Greens, greens, greens...and kholrabi?

[sbrinton]

Help me use my csa box!!

My husband says the fridge looks like a jungle, and I need to figure out what to cook with the following:

Kohlrabi
White turnips
Kale
Chard
Salad greens
2 heads lettuce
Broccoli Rabe
Mizuna
Lemon Balm
Sorrel

Any ideas? Later in the summer the CSA box will have fewer greens and more variety, but for this week I'm hoping to find some great ideas to use up all this green food...

Recipes that freeze well would be awesome too.

[CourtBChase]

Hah, I am having the same problem. Last night I made this: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...-Garlic-241906 with turnip greens, kohlrabi greens and Bok Choi. It was really good, although I used rice wine vinegar (cause that is what we had) and used less liquid than it said, because a whole cup seemed like too much once the greens were cooked down. Yum! My friend suggested roasting the turnips like potatoes, but I have not tried that yet. I don't know what to do with the bottom part of the kohlrabi, although the internet seems to suggest it can be peeled and eaten raw in salads (which I am going to be eating constantly until all this lettuce stops showing up!)

[kaaris]

I have a couple great kohlrabi recipes in the CSA meal planner:

http://mealplanner.eatrealgood.com/recipes/78

http://mealplanner.eatrealgood.com/recipes/82

http://mealplanner.eatrealgood.com/recipes/79

http://mealplanner.eatrealgood.com/recipes/77

[lalemma]

Kohlrabi is delicious raw! I peel it and eat it like an apple. (I also do the same to, uh, turnips. Because I'm weird.) Maybe you'd enjoy it peeled and shredded and served in a big salad with the lettuce? To me it tastes almost exactly the same as broccoli stems, which I happen to love, so anything you'd do with broccoli would work with kohlrabi - steaming, stir-frying, etc.

My favorite way to cook most tender greens is to heat a wok, put a bit of oil in it, maybe a tablespoon, wait for it to come up to heat, and put a bit of fresh-ground pepper and red pepper flakes in the oil for just a few seconds, just long enough for it to become fragrant, not so long that it starts to smoke (if you'd like to add some slivered garlic, this is a good place to do it as well). Then add in the chard. A lot of recipes tell you to cook the stems and the leaves separately: I usually don't bother unless I'm feeling ambitious. Instead I just rinse and chop the entire bunch and toss the greens and stems in the hot oil. They'll wilt almost immediately. Salt if you like. You can finish it with a drizzle of vinegar (rice wine is good), or lemon juice. And a drizzle of sesame oil is delicious, too.

Under a minute from cutting board to plate. And so yummy. I'm so jealous of your box of chard, LOL!

For kale, I either do the same as above (although it takes a bit longer, and I might put a lid on the pan and lower the heat so it can steam in its own juices for a minute or two), OR I make oven-baked kale chips.

Turn the oven to about 350. Wash and dry the kale and tear or chop into pieces (again, you can take out the stems, but I'm lazy.) Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper, spread into a single layer on a cookie sheet.

Bake, keeping a close watch, for anywhere from 5-10 minutes. They're done when they've become crispy, but aren't brown.

Really, really good. And I like to pretend that they're super-healthy.

For lemon balm, you might make an herb iced tea? It's very fresh-tasting and would be good in hot weather.

For sorrel, this recipe looks interesting (although I haven't tried it). Or I would just make a simple soup: wilt a bunch of sorrel (and you could even throw in some lettuce, if you can't eat it all in salads!) in some butter or oil, pour in some broth, puree, finish with a bit of cream if you eat it.

[sbrinton]

So far we washed, cut and froze 2 bunches of the kale. I'll use this next fall and winter in soups or other dishes that call for greens.

Last night we had a big salad with poached salmon. I poached the salmon in water with some of the lemon balm. I think we'll toss some of the lemon balm in baths this week - it smells amazing and is supposed to be good for skin.

The kids have been eating the snow peas raw and I'm planning to turn those into a stir fry with a peanut sauce (we love the recipe from Feeding the Whole Family).

We're going to roast the kholrabi tonight with garlic and olive oil, drizzled with balsamic vinegar right at the table. We're also going to have the broccoli rabe sauteed with some garlic tonight (with italian sausage and polenta).

On Friday we'll stir fry the bok choi with shitake mushrooms and shrimp. I think I'll also make a carrot, sweet potato, turnip mash - which will also be good baby food for the 7 month old. We'll saute the chard with onions and raisins, and maybe pinenuts. Maybe all of that with some steak on Monday night? And the cauliflower?

Maybe we'll make a sorrel soup. I wonder how that would freeze?

That leaves mizuna...and this mizuna is very spicy as mizuna goes. It may not end up being eaten.

[jessjgh1]

I love this kholrabi recipe, maybe because the guys actually tried it(-; You can use it as a base for other greens too- and most other greens you don't have to grate.
We got it from our CSA last year and I'm too lazy to type it up so I just googled 'kohlrabi Parmesan' and got 2-3 sites with the same basic recipe, so I don't really know who to credit(-;

Kohlrabi with Parmesan
2 large or 3 medium kohlrabi – trimmed and peeled- and grated
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced parsley
Grate kohlrabi. Heat butter or oil over medium heat. Add kohlrabi. Cook, stirring frequently, until the kohlrabi is tender, about 8 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss with cheese. Cook until cheese melts and garnish with parsley. Serves 4

Dh actually requested this again, and he pretty much turns up his nose at everything green but squashes. I've got a fussy bunch.

Jessica