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Kohlrabi Revisited

I just discovered how good kohlrabi is this summer, but it is a cool weather crop so I couldn’t try to grow any.  They don’t sell the leaves in any stores local to me, but I bought one that looked a little green around the stem end and cut an inch cube out of it to put in water on the window sill.  After a few days it started producing one new leaf like this every day, and as soon as I cut one off and eat it this rhizome grows me another one.  I figure if I had about 10 of these cubes floating in water I would get enough greens to satisfying my daily kohlrabi cravings.

A food blogger who is tracing the background of kohlrabi states that Pliny the Elder may have spoken of it in the first century AD using the name Corinthian turnip.  Pliny was not the most trustworthy of historians as, in my mind at least, he is most notable for having written that moss-backed whales used to make war on sailors by floating in the ocean and pretending to be islands.  He said they would thus lure them to dock their little boats on their backs.  Then the devious whales would plunge to the depths, taking unsuspecting sailors to their watery graves.

Oh, and if you don’t see me around much (or at all) for a few weeks do not suspect that I have gone to the bottom of the sea, or had any other calamity, try to miss me a little and know that I will be back by October if not sooner, hopefully having become eligible for my first Virily payment in the interim.  Wheee!

This is a white daikon radish, a green daikon radish, and a cute little kohlrabi.  All of these veggies are rich in something called prebiotics which is necessary for vibrant health.  They can be fermented to make them even healthier.

Finally, and these are not vegetables, at least not anymore, but this is a new take on my biscuit bombs which I blogged about HERE, and which I finally got around to making gluten-free.  They are micro -loaves, a little bigger than the kohlrabi leaf shown above.  Portion control and all that.  They taste like something Pliny the Elder might have eaten.  I think.  Anyway I did not put any of my beloved sprouted grain in them, nor any wheat or spelt or rye.  They are strictly Ancient Grains, made with flour of flax, quinoa, amaranth, and that sort of thing.  I expected them to taste like cardboard, but actually they are somewhat tasty.  However, I will put gluten in the next batch as I personally have nothing against gluten.

In the 60's people I used to know thought gluten was healthy, and they made vegan steak fakes out of it, now it is anathema.  Wait long enough and it will become a health food again.  Just wait!

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Written by Ann Hartley

25 Comments

  1. This is the first time that I have heard about kohlrabi. I need more info about this culinary plant or herb. what does it give to the consumer? Does it has nutritious value? What else?

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    • Oh, my, sometimes the computer changes what we write. It did not recognize the word kohlrabi. I have not tried the bulb in soup yet, but I am sure it is delicious. I have used the leaves in soup and like them very much.

        • Once I wrote to my sister-in-law that a friend had brought me a bouquet, and when the email got to her it said he had bought me a bikini. NO WAY! We all thought that was pretty funny after I got done being embarrassed.