CSA Week 1: Anchovy Butter, Pickled Kohlrabi, Turnips — What to do with them?
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We received our first CSA of the season on Tuesday. Pictured above are the contents of a 1/2 share from Roxbury Farm. Pictured below are the contents organized and ready to be stored.
Let’s review a few tips for preparing your vegetables for storing:
1. Always snip greens from roots: radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, carrots, beets, etc. Store the greens and roots in the fridge. I keep all of the greens in one bag and the roots in another bag — just my preference.
2. Always snip off rubber bands from anything they are binding — herbs, asparagus, radishes, etc.
3. Herbs: I remember reading something last summer about a better way to store basil — not in the fridge, but out on the counter in a glass or bowl with the stems dipped into a little bit of water and the greens covered in a plastic bag. This worked beautifully — my basil lasted so much longer than when it was stashed in the cold fridge. This week, I stored the basil and parsley in an open ziplock on my counter. They are still looking fantastic. As it gets warmer out, it might be a good idea to use the water trick.
A few recipe ideas:
Mixed greens: This needs no explanation really, but if you are looking for a super simple dressing, this is what I love to do: mince a shallot (or small red or white onion), cover with white balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt; let sit for 15 minutes; whisk in olive oil to taste. The greens, the arugula especially, need very little dressing — they are so tasty on their own. If you have scallions and radishes from your farm share, throw them in the salad, too.
Kohlrabi: Pickle it — so easy and delicious. Recipe below.
Radishes: Anchovy butter makes everything better. I saw this recipe in The New Greenmarket Cookbook , and ate radish tartines all week: 1 stick softened butter, 6 finely minced anchovies, 1 minced scallion, 1 tablespoon minced dill (I used basil and parsley from the farm share), 1 minced garlic clove, pinch salt and pepper, 1 tablespoon lime (I used lemon): Mix everything together. Taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Spread bread with anchovy butter. Top with thinly sliced radishes. Top with a sprinkling of good salt.
More ideas for radishes here.
Herbs: This harissa is a great way to use up any number of herbs. Pesto, of course, is a great idea.
Kale: Kale caesar, crustless quiche, kale, kale, kale.
Greens snipped from radishes, turnips, etc: These can be sautéed with olive oil and garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Toasted breadcrumbs are a nice addition.
The biggest challenge for me this week was what to with the turnips. I ended up making turnip burgers — puréed the raw turnips and their greens with a zucchini, scallion, cooked rice and herbs, mixed it all together with a mix of seeds and fresh breadcrumbs, then pan-fried them. I will share the recipe soon.
Questions: What have you been doing with your turnips? And what have you been making with your CSA veg?
Hope you all are having a nice weekend.
PS: A few more CSA tips here.
Pickled Kohlrabi
- Total Time: 45 minutes
Description
I have used this quick-pickle method for carrots, watermelon radishes, and now kohlrabi — so good!
Ingredients
- 1 bulb kohlrabi, greens removed, bulb peeled
- ½ cup distilled white vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- ½ teaspoon peppercorns, lightly crushed
Instructions
- Slice your kohlrabi into ½-inch thick slices, then stack, and cut into ½-inch thick batons. Place them in a clean canning jar.
- In a non-reactive saucepan, bring the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil, and simmer for one minute or until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat and add the garlic and peppercorns.
- Pour the hot liquid including the garlic and peppercorns over the kohlrabi. Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
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31 Comments on “CSA Week 1: Anchovy Butter, Pickled Kohlrabi, Turnips — What to do with them?”
I cook my turnips and turnip greens together in the slow cooker with a bit of salt pork and a bit of brown sugar. Sooooooo good!
Oh, awesome — that sounds amazing!
We, too, received kohlrabi–so thank you for some help with what to do with it!! Here is a recipe from our CSA (Red Fire Farm) for turnips. We received hakurei this week, so I’m going to give it a try–with or without the sauce.
Roasted Turnips with Cilantro Peanut sauce
Roasted turnips are good in and of themselves. Here’s a way to make them irresistable. I also think they are very good used like roasted beets in a salad with greens and feta cheese.
Chunks of any type of turnip or rutabaga
Olive oil to coat
Salt and pepper
Clean and top turnips, remove thicker skin areas, and chop into similar sized chunks. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 375 or 400 until soft to the tines of a fork, and starting to brown a little. While baking you can make up a container of the Cilantro Peanut Sauce below and use it for dipping the roasted chunks or as a sauce poured over them.
From Sarah Voiland, 2010.
Cilantro Peanut Sauce
This sauce is great on udon noodles, tofu, roasted turnips, fries, almost anything.
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey (or other sweetener)
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs cider or rice vinegar (or other light vinegar)
2 tbs lemon or lime juice
2-4 tbs olive oil
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tbs sesame oil (optional)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional) – or green garlic
1 tbs minced fresh ginger (optional, or a little ginger powder)
a little of your favorite spicing agent (cayenne powder, chili flakes)
Mix everything together. You can mix it in a pouring container or the container you’ll store leftovers in later. Add a little water to get desired consistency. Salt to taste.
When I do this I just stick some of each thing in and stir and taste it and then add more of things as needed, so if you want it more peanut buttery, you can add more, etc.
From Sarah Voiland, 2010.
Wendy, this sounds awesome! I think ours are hakurei as well. I am definitely making that sauce — sounds so good and made from all pantry ingredients. I have a feeling my kids might like this one, too…might be a good way to get them to eat the turnips. Thanks so much for sending! Very excited about this sauce.
Kohlrabi is delicious simply salted and eaten as a crunchy snack. This is best with small ones. With somewhat larger heads, you can slice it thinly, sauté in butter or oil, season with salt and pepper and a grating of nutmeg. A wonderful side dish! Kohlrabi can also be julienned and made into or added to cole slaw. It’s in the cruciferous family, so anything you can do with cabbage, you can do with Kohlrabi. They should never be woody or hollow, then they are old. Don’t forget to use the more delicate leaves in a salad!,
Thank you for all of these ideas and great point re cruciferous family — knowing that it’s in the cabbage family sort of demystifies it, and opens up possibilities for its uses. Love the idea of the sauté with a grating of nutmeg. Thanks!
Don’t forget to peel your Kohlrabi first!!
yes, thank you!
The hakurie turnips (which yours look to be) were my favorite thing from my spring share, and I had never had them. Tried the first recipe that came up — https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/glazed-hakurei-turnips.
Follow the suggestion of the reviewer that used the Cooks Illustrated method. They were fantastic.
Nice! Thanks so much for sending. Love the sound of that glaze. Will be sure to read the reviews. Thank you!
We made a hash with our turnips and some potatoes that were also delivered (assume they were old potatoes and were cellared). Cooked it in bacon fat and herbs and topped it all with a fried egg and the crumbled bacon. It was delicious!
Yum! And I think you must be right about the potatoes — we haven’t received any yet, and I think last year we got them midsummer or so. Anyway, your hash sounds divine — the egg! the crumbled bacon! Yum.
Hi Ali! You probably know this one already, but I made it just last week with a bunch of random greens and herbs from my CSA and it was wonderful. My only tip is to tweak the salt levels in the filling (use less) and the crust (use more). I think of it as a cross between your spanakopita and crustless quiche recipe. It’s perfect for those situations when you need to use up your greens because it calls for something like 2 pounds of spinach (or chard, or curly endive, or radish greens… anything tender is so good in this). https://food52.com/recipes/25622-batsaria-phyllo-less-spanakopita
Charlene, I did not know about this one, so thank you thank you!! It looks so good. And the perfect recipe to have on hand when all of those greens start arriving — I cannot wait to try this. Great to hear from you. xo
As another Roxbury CSA member, I cannot tell you how *thrilled* I am that you are doing this!!! Thank you! Please keep it up!
Oh, so wonderful to hear this, Jenny! I hope it is helpful. My three immediate neighbors are all Roxbury CSA members, too, so it has been fun to discuss. So looking forward to the delivery today!
Miso butter turnips from Vegetable Literacy!! Miso butter is sooo excellent and delicious with turnips!
Oh, fantastic! Just found the recipe online. I don’t own Vegetable Literacy — should I?! I have and love The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Might need to add VL to the collection. Thanks for the idea!
I live along the Gulf Coast and we get our turnips in the winter. One of our favorite ways to eat them is in a simple pureed soup. Not the best suggestion for summer though. 😉 I did, however, make this recipe recently, and we enjoyed it.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/miso-glazed-turnips
No, this is great Ashley, thank you! We get turnips later in the year, too, so I love that idea. Also love the idea of the miso-glazed turnips — yum!
We seem to be in the middle of a Kohlrabi revolution, which completely fascinates me… it’s something so utterly normal at home in Germany (normal at the eggplant level) and it is so rare that I get to think of a German vegetable as something exotic or special. Even fancy fitness newsletters are getting in on the action, featuring it as one of the “superfoods you may not know about.” Move over, fermented Himalayan angel sprouts.
In terms of recipes though, I like it best just raw. It’s crunchy and slightly sweet and fresh and so very satisfying, I just peel it and eat it like an apple. Also delicious steamed (did somebody say cream?), but whichever way you cook it, I recommend making sure it doesn’t lose its crunch, that really is the best part. I’ve never had it farm fresh, I imagine it is ten times better than any of the kohlrabi I’ve known!
This is so interesting Kathrin! I wish I had known I could eat kohlrabi like an apple when I was feeling overloaded by them many years ago in Philadelphia…would have made things a lot easier. But I agree — keeping the crisp texture is key. I think that’s why I love the pickles. Great to hear from you!
It’s so interesting seeing what’s in season in different parts of the country!
In SD, we got tomatoes, nectarines, leeks, oranges, cucumbers, grapefruit, blueberries, carrots, fennel, lettuce, herbs etc. in this week’s CSA. Last night, I made a salad with peaches/tomatoes/greens/halloumi – yay for light summer meals! Zucchini fritters and Greek salad tonight, and I might try a slow roasted salmon with fennel/dill/oranges from Bon Appetit, and tofu banh mi’s over the weekend.
Your green harissa looks like a great way to use up some of the cilantro/dill/basil we got! Might try that soon 🙂 Also, though it’s the “it” ingredient, I still have yet to try kohlrabi.
(Also, you might like this, it’s a a great blog from a CSA in Spotsylvania, written by a former food writer for the newspaper – https://sneadsfarm.wordpress.com)
Thanks for sending the Sneadsfarm blog — I just started following them on bloglovin — I’m excited!
So fun to hear what you are getting, too! Jealous of your tomatoes and nectarines, and of course your citrus. All the food you are making sounds delicious! That salad with halloumi…yum.
And yes re that harissa. Last night, too, I ended up puréeing garlic scapes with basil and cilantro, olive oil and vinegar and salt — no jalapeno, bc I didn’t have one — and it was really good too. Perhaps more versatile even bc it’s not spicy. Anywho, great to hear from you!
You might like this guide on the best way to store different kinds of herbs. Lots of info! https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/04/the-best-way-to-store-fresh-herbs-parsley-cilantro-dill-basil.html
Wow, awesome, this is incredible! So interesting about washing the cilantro — I totally would have thought it would be better to not wash them before storing. Going to read further. Thanks so much Ileana!
I made sardine butter using a similar concept – yum! Thanks for the idea!
Fantastic! And so interesting…I love sardines.
I love your recipe, but my husband is concerned that pouring the hot solution to the Kohlrabi will kill all the good bacteria and want me to wait for it to cool down completely before pouring over. What do you think?
Hello,
How long can you store the Kohlrabi pickled in this recipe?
Kohlrabi salad soo wonderful!
Frank
Massachusetts
★★★★
Hi Frank! I would imagine for months! I have never stored it for that long because I eat it all beforehand, but the pickling liquid should preserve it for a very long time.