For the love of Produce...
Replies
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First time I’ve ever seen Kohlrabi in real life, so obviously had to buy one…
Don’t really want to make it into some kind of slaw but I’m struggling to come up with a different plan for it. Research tells me it most closely resembles broccoli stalks, so I may end up cutting it into small dice and adding to a lemon, mint and ricotta orzo dish.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
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@BarbaraHelen2013
I normally roast kohlrabi (ie treat it as any other root vegetable), but seeing as you were thinking about orzo you might like this
https://stefangourmet.com/2022/07/04/turnip-or-kohlrabi-risotto-risotto-alle-rape/
If you don't mind a salad treatment, spiralized, grated, or finely julienned it makes a great substitute for green papaya in SE Asian salads some as Som Tam.2 -
I've been doing Cantonese stuffed eggplant and peppers. I use a combination of these two recipes.
https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-stuffed-peppers-2/
https://soupeduprecipes.com/hakka-stuffed-eggplant/
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@purplefizzy where do you find all your ideas for making veggies more fun?? I am horrible at eating more vegetables and have a spouse who doesn't like change.1
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BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »First time I’ve ever seen Kohlrabi in real life, so obviously had to buy one…
Don’t really want to make it into some kind of slaw but I’m struggling to come up with a different plan for it. Research tells me it most closely resembles broccoli stalks, so I may end up cutting it into small dice and adding to a lemon, mint and ricotta orzo dish.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
This is boring conceptually, but I love them raw, thin sliced. (That's how I eat broccoli stalks and cauliflower/cabbage cores often, too.)3 -
So in the end I made a Kohlrabi & Leek Gratin. It was cold here and I fancied something warming and comforting!
Used a recipe as a jumping off point but used every trick in the book to lighten it up, calorie wise. Baked it with a last minute heritage tomato and onion stew, for freshness. Whole plate was about 340 calories and contained all 10 of my veg portions for the day.
Found the Kohlrabi pleasant but not mind blowing. I definitely see the broccoli stalks comparison but felt it had some other nuance that I can’t place. Will buy again, should I come across it.
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We were just on vacation in Bologna and veg was great there. Stuff like tomatoes and zucchini are bred for taste instead of looks and uniformity. Some new veggie sides that blew me away were a local version of roast carrots and roast onions. The carrots had been slow roasted at low temperature so were very sweet and dehydrated despite not having any sweetener added. The small onions were sweet and caramelized, also without any hint of additional sweetener.
I tried replicating the onions, especially as I read one recipe online that claimed this is a side that freezes well. I tossed peeled shallots with trimmed ends in olive oil and salt and added a few sprigs of rosemary, although rosemary did not feature in the dish I tasted in Italy. I air fried for 40 minutes at 160C giving an occasional shake. it did taste of vacation memories. Hoping this does indeed freeze well.
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I love vegetables, but I also live alone and have little time, so I simplify the process. I used to make soup in a Japanese rice cooker, but now, I simply use the microwave. So, most of what I eat, with the exception of lupini beans, soybeans, sardines, lemon juice, psyllium husks and spices is here:
I also occasionally eat other vegetables, such as asparagus, jicama, daikon, cabbage, red beets ... but not all that often because it is too much work and annoying to prepare in the tiny kitchen of a bachelor suite.2 -
Kohlrabi is my favourite vegetable, by far. I compare it to broccoli stalks and find both of them eminently more satisfying than broccoli florets. That said, I don't often buy it, partly because it is quite time consuming to prepare in a tiny bachelor suite kitchen but also because of how sorry most kohlrabi looks here in Toronto, despite the relatively steep price given that it is such a simple vegetable to grow.First time I’ve ever seen Kohlrabi in real life, so obviously had to buy one…
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BartBVanBockstaele wrote: »
Kohlrabi is my favourite vegetable, by far. I compare it to broccoli stalks and find both of them eminently more satisfying than broccoli florets. That said, I don't often buy it, partly because it is quite time consuming to prepare in a tiny bachelor suite kitchen but also because of how sorry most kohlrabi looks here in Toronto, despite the relatively steep price given that it is such a simple vegetable to grow.First time I’ve ever seen Kohlrabi in real life, so obviously had to buy one…
Misattributed quote: That wasn't me, that was @BarbaraHelen2013. I've been eating kohlrabi for decades, though most often raw. For raw eating, it's easy to prepare.
I'm surprised you don't get good kohlrabi in Toronto. I'm not that far away geographically over in Michigan, and it's pretty easy to find very nice kohlrabi in season at farmers markets, and decent kohlrabi most of the year at the good produce market.
I guess borders and sub-culture may make a difference?0 -
Oops. I stand corrected. Sorry for that. That'll teach me, I should not try to post something when I'm getting too tired.Misattributed quote: That wasn't me, that was @BarbaraHelen2013. I've been eating kohlrabi for decades, though most often raw. For raw eating, it's easy to prepare.
I'm surprised you don't get good kohlrabi in Toronto. I'm not that far away geographically over in Michigan, and it's pretty easy to find very nice kohlrabi in season at farmers markets, and decent kohlrabi most of the year at the good produce market.
I guess borders and sub-culture may make a difference?
It's possible that there are places to get good kohlrabi in Toronto, but I am living alone, and spending hours of "hunting" all over the place to ferret out such places, if we have them at all, is not an investment I am willing, or even able to make. I just go to my local Loblaws and if I have some time to spend, to my local No Frills, because it makes for a longer walk, which is always good and because they have two (2!) products I cannot get at Loblaws and which happen to be my absolute favourites (No Name oriental style vegetable blend, and Suraj sliced okra). They don't always have them but they very ofen do and it is one sacrifice I am willing to make if and when I can. If not, I buy something more or less similar at Loblaws.
The reality is, I hardly ever prepare "fresh" vegetables at all. It is always a major investment in time and effort when I do that, because my kitchen is so tiny, and I have to put stuff all over the place to get it done. I essentially only eat frozen: it is convenient, always fresh at peak quality and requires essentially no time at all except for weighing the portions and the 10 minutes of time it takes for the microwave to cook them ^_^.
I just finished breakfast: 125 ml canned crushed tomatoes, 125 g No Name frozen diced vegetable blend, one can of Brunswick spring water sardines, one tablespoon of a spice mix I make myself and two tablespoons of Pure-Lé psyllium husks. While the psyllium does add fibre that's not really why I use it, I use it because it makes the mixture less liquid, so I can eat it with a fork without making a mess at the computer ^_^. It is my standard breakfast and my favourite meal of the day. For now, anyway.
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Seems like it’s the month for new-to-me vegetables here in rural England! I came across Yellow Wax Beans today.
I absolutely love all forms of green beans (runner, Dwarf, Kenyan, Fine, French etc…) so I’m excited to try these. From what I understand they’re similar, just lacking the chlorophyll so I don’t expect them to be startling, but I’m still excited!
I need to get out more…😂5 -
I roasted whole shallots in the air fryer earlier this week after trying them at a restaurant and liking them. One recipe I saw online claimed these can be successfully frozen and I can now confirm this is so. The shallots I warmed up in the microwave tonight were just as good as when we ate them freshly roasted at the beginning of the week.4
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Came across a pin on Pinterest and the photos were so beautiful and it looked so appetising I had to make some!
Fermented Cherry Tomatoes just starting their 8 day ferment. I added more Basil & Parsley after this picture was taken because I didn’t think I’d used enough!
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Mmm. Pickled tomatoes!
Did you prick some tiny holes in the tomato skin so the brine can get to the inside of the fruit?
If your garden has green tomatoes, and if you need to harvest them soon, you can for sure make pickled green tomatoes. So tasty.2 -
This is so stupid that it is never occurred to me to do this before when I make classic roast potatoes. I normally place cubed potatoes in cold water, bring to the boil, then set the timer for 3 minutes. After draining, return to empty pan and shake in some fat before roasting in the air fryer 15-20 minutes. Last night I added carrots cut to the same size and cooked in exactly the same way for the first time. Will add root vegetables whenever I do roast potatoes now. An easy way to incorporate an extra vegetable.5
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@acpgee
What difference does it make in the final product when you parboil the potatoes first? I haven't tried that. I've been doing roasted potatoes by slicing into quarter-inch round pieces or quarter inch strips (French cut), tossing with oil & spices, and roasting in the convection oven for about a half hour at about 425.
I'm thinking that if I wanted to roast small whole potatoes, the parboil might make a nice exterior texture. I think it might have even been you who turned me on to the idea of Papas Arrugadas. Those get fully cooked in salty water and then put back in the dry pan to get crispy. I wonder if parboiling whole or halved small potatoes and then roasting would be similar and also deliciously different.
As winter approaches, I'll be looking forward to making Stuffed Mushroom Mushroom Stuffing. I'm sure I have written about it before, and maybe I'll do that again.4 -
@mtaratoot
I think I turned you onto papas arrugadas after I posted a picture from a restaurant serving in the Canary Islands, where the recipe is from. They would have been traditionally cooked in Atlantic sea water. We were there last February and I found them astonishingly good especially with unsalted grilled meat. You were meant to take a bite of the salty potato between bites of unseasoned BQQ'd meat.
The classic method of English roast potatoes with the first par boiling step is to roughten up the surface when you shake them in fat (traditionally duck fat or goose fat, but butter or olive oil is nice too). Fluffing and roughening the surface of the softened potatoes causes them to hold more fat and get more crispy. The best results I have had was when I accidentally par boiled the potatoes a little too long (say 4-5 minutes) in salted water. They were super soft on the instead but crispy on the outside but not particularly attractive as they had started to crumble apart after a shake in the fat in the dry cooking vessel.4 -
Argh. Spellchecker. If anything is incomprehensible above let me know.
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Pulasan. Like rambutan but the spikes are duller and it lacks the tang. Some prefer it, say it’s sweeter. I think I like the tang.
Still deep in exploring the new around me, fresh palm shoots and Ube and million kinds avo.
Keep on keepin on, produce peeps.7 -
One more for ya.
Rollinia.
Fizzy review: the softer parts are sort of lemon curd ish, and the firmer parts have a wild texture, like firm applesauce. It’s super creamy and definitely can tell it’s in the cherimoya family.
Its a ‘small slice’ one. The texture gets overwhelming after a bit but it’s wild and delicious in small doses.
Learn here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/rollinia-deliciosa-biriba4 -
BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »First time I’ve ever seen Kohlrabi in real life, so obviously had to buy one…
Don’t really want to make it into some kind of slaw but I’m struggling to come up with a different plan for it. Research tells me it most closely resembles broccoli stalks, so I may end up cutting it into small dice and adding to a lemon, mint and ricotta orzo dish.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
This is boring conceptually, but I love them raw, thin sliced. (That's how I eat broccoli stalks and cauliflower/cabbage cores often, too.)
Same. When feeing fancy: Carpaccio sliced, with green apple if have, with a drizzle of blood orange OO and dusting of ground hazelnuts.
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Okay.. sorry for the dumb question but...
How do you know figs are ripe? Is it when they get a bit soft?
Also, can you just eat a fig like an apple? What does it taste like? I have some in my fridge. Like I said, stupid question but I have never had figs.0 -
Okay.. sorry for the dumb question but...
How do you know figs are ripe? Is it when they get a bit soft?
Also, can you just eat a fig like an apple? What does it taste like? I have some in my fridge. Like I said, stupid question but I have never had figs.
They don't last very long. Yes, if you pick them ripe, it's by how soft they feel. There's a part of the human male anatomy that some might nickname "figs." You know the figs on the tree are ripe when they feel the same. A friend taught me that after I bought a house with three fig trees. I had been indifferent to them before that as I had really only had them dried. They are delicious and sweet.
Most folks just pop 'em in their mouth. I sometimes break them open and turn them inside out and eat the meat but not the skin. I reduce the amount of bird droppings I eat by doing that perhaps. I have a neighbor who does that and then gives the skin to her dog; they both win.
I don't think they should be kept in the fridge, but I'm not sure about that. They only last a very few days after picking if you pick them ripe. If you pick them green, they won't ripen off the tree, but if you pick them just before they are ripe, they will continue to soften. When you can get them tree ripened, they really are a special treat.
I got ONE FIG this year. The birds got all the rest.7 -
It's squash-breaking season again, and I was able to get some of my favorite Georgia Candy Roaster. Yeah, I enthused about them last year, up-thread, but they're so good and they make me happy. Destined for roasting, smashing, freezing . . . just as I'm eating the last of 2021's frozen bowls. I'll also be dark-roasting the large, plump, tasty seeds with good chili powder (Frontier) and Himalayan pink popcorn salt. Double yum!
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Squash fest continues! From the top center, Kent (Australian variety), spaghetti, and mashed potato squash, double-bracketed by four additional Georgia candy roaster. That's a foot-long ruler for scale.
Kent is a new variety to me. The squash lady at the market says it's really good. They hand pollinate it to keep the variety pure here.
The other two Georgia candy roaster (GCR) squash I cooked this morning added up to ten two-cup pyrex bowls in my freezer, plus a little (partial bowl) in the fridge. These 4 GCR will join them, so I should end up with around 30 two-cup portions in the freezer for use over the coming year. (GCR aren't great keepers, but they're too yummy to pass up.) These first two GCRs also yielded around 2 cups of nice big, plump raw seeds to roast.
The other types will be used up over the next week or two in meals. The mashed-potato ones (very mild flavor) are especially nice for a topping a pseudo shepherd's pie, though I'm not sure that's how I'll use this one.
Out of curiosity, I weighed my farmers market haul from today, which included all but two (GCR) of the squash show, plus a bag of tomatoes, another of Ida Red apples (not my fave, but I can't get my fave), and a small batch of brussels sprouts. All I knew was that my two bags full felt a little heavier than usual on the quarter-mile (literally) back to my car. Turned out to be 27.8 pounds of fresh yummy veggies/fruits!
Can you tell that I love Winter squash? 😆5 -
@purplefizzy: That Rollinia looks/sounds soooo interesting! I wish I could find something like that.
Your description of it - though far different overall - reminded me that this should be Paw Paw season here, itself a custardy thing. (This would be temperate Paw Paw, Asimina triloba.) So far, I've not found any this year. They don't travel well, but in the past I've gotten a small number at the farmers markets, but rarely. Want!0 -
I like that you put a ruler on there. That is the most objective comparison standard we can use in pictures, without using a scale and that is more problematic because while it gives a reliable indication of weight, it says little about size. Well done.Squash fest continues! From the top center, Kent (Australian variety), spaghetti, and mashed potato squash, double-bracketed by four additional Georgia candy roaster. That's a foot-long ruler for scale.
Kent is a new variety to me. The squash lady at the market says it's really good. They hand pollinate it to keep the variety pure here.
The other two Georgia candy roaster (GCR) squash I cooked this morning added up to ten two-cup pyrex bowls in my freezer, plus a little (partial bowl) in the fridge. These 4 GCR will join them, so I should end up with around 30 two-cup portions in the freezer for use over the coming year. (GCR aren't great keepers, but they're too yummy to pass up.) These first two GCRs also yielded around 2 cups of nice big, plump raw seeds to roast.
The other types will be used up over the next week or two in meals. The mashed-potato ones (very mild flavor) are especially nice for a topping a pseudo shepherd's pie, though I'm not sure that's how I'll use this one.
Out of curiosity, I weighed my farmers market haul from today, which included all but two (GCR) of the squash show, plus a bag of tomatoes, another of Ida Red apples (not my fave, but I can't get my fave), and a small batch of brussels sprouts. All I knew was that my two bags full felt a little heavier than usual on the quarter-mile (literally) back to my car. Turned out to be 27.8 pounds of fresh yummy veggies/fruits!
Can you tell that I love Winter squash? 😆
For caloric reasons I am staying away from most everything that is even a little higher in calories, but I am sure they are quite good. I have never met a vegetable/fruit I did not like.
As for me, I just gobbled up a 300 g package of chopped spinach with spices and lemon juice, thickened with 2 tbsp of psyllium husks, 158 kcal not counting the lemon juice and the spices because that is hard to estimate and essentially irrelevant because I count the calories from the psyllium which are largely unusable.
As for Brussels sprouts, they are essentially the only exception I make to keeping to the lowest energy content possible. They are just too delicious and too easy to use to ban outright!2 -
BartBVanBockstaele wrote: »
I like that you put a ruler on there. That is the most objective comparison standard we can use in pictures, without using a scale and that is more problematic because while it gives a reliable indication of weight, it says little about size. Well done.Squash fest continues! From the top center, Kent (Australian variety), spaghetti, and mashed potato squash, double-bracketed by four additional Georgia candy roaster. That's a foot-long ruler for scale.
Kent is a new variety to me. The squash lady at the market says it's really good. They hand pollinate it to keep the variety pure here.
The other two Georgia candy roaster (GCR) squash I cooked this morning added up to ten two-cup pyrex bowls in my freezer, plus a little (partial bowl) in the fridge. These 4 GCR will join them, so I should end up with around 30 two-cup portions in the freezer for use over the coming year. (GCR aren't great keepers, but they're too yummy to pass up.) These first two GCRs also yielded around 2 cups of nice big, plump raw seeds to roast.
The other types will be used up over the next week or two in meals. The mashed-potato ones (very mild flavor) are especially nice for a topping a pseudo shepherd's pie, though I'm not sure that's how I'll use this one.
Out of curiosity, I weighed my farmers market haul from today, which included all but two (GCR) of the squash show, plus a bag of tomatoes, another of Ida Red apples (not my fave, but I can't get my fave), and a small batch of brussels sprouts. All I knew was that my two bags full felt a little heavier than usual on the quarter-mile (literally) back to my car. Turned out to be 27.8 pounds of fresh yummy veggies/fruits!
Can you tell that I love Winter squash? 😆
For caloric reasons I am staying away from most everything that is even a little higher in calories, but I am sure they are quite good. I have never met a vegetable/fruit I did not like.
As for me, I just gobbled up a 300 g package of chopped spinach with spices and lemon juice, thickened with 2 tbsp of psyllium husks, 158 kcal not counting the lemon juice and the spices because that is hard to estimate and essentially irrelevant because I count the calories from the psyllium which are largely unusable.
As for Brussels sprouts, they are essentially the only exception I make to keeping to the lowest energy content possible. They are just too delicious and too easy to use to ban outright!
I know that you're quite calorie limited, but for myself I find Winter squash quite sating/satisfying, at around 37 calories per 100g. I'm not one to add bunches of butter or oil to it. Sometimes I just eat it plain, maybe a little salt, but I really like it with some white miso mixed in after the squash is hot, right before eating. alternatively, balsamic vinegar is also good on/in it. Sometimes I use it to make soup, too.
This time, I roasted the brussels sprouts with a minimal spray of avocado oil, then a small drizzle (3-4 each) of balsamic vinegar and pomegranate molasses, and a light sprinkling of sea salt. It started out as 196g of sprouts (raw), ended up about 162 calories with all the add-ins. Worth it, to me . . . but I know a lot of people don't like them. Their loss, in my book!2 -
I know that you're quite calorie limited, but for myself I find Winter squash quite sating/satisfying, at around 37 calories per 100g. I'm not one to add bunches of butter or oil to it. Sometimes I just eat it plain, maybe a little salt, but I really like it with some white miso mixed in after the squash is hot, right before eating. alternatively, balsamic vinegar is also good on/in it. Sometimes I use it to make soup, too.
This time, I roasted the brussels sprouts with a minimal spray of avocado oil, then a small drizzle (3-4 each) of balsamic vinegar and pomegranate molasses, and a light sprinkling of sea salt. It started out as 196g of sprouts (raw), ended up about 162 calories with all the add-ins. Worth it, to me . . . but I know a lot of people don't like them. Their loss, in my book![/quote]
There is absolutely nothing wrong with squash as far as I can see. They are a perfectly honourable and delicious product. I have ever tried them with miso, that sounds like a really great idea. I love miso. Unfortunately, because of the salt, I have to stay away from it, just as I have to stay away from soy sauce. I still eat boiled soybeans and natto though. I love them both and, together with sardines, they are my main sources of protein and fat.
Many people love vinegar, balsamic or otherwise, but it is one of the all-too-rare foodstuffs I really completely and genuinely loathe. I often joke I prefer Windex ^_^. Fortunately, I have lemon juice to replace it and when I really feel I want something a bit more fruity, I would use Crystal Light or MiO as a condiment. The MiO would be combined with lemon Juice because it is too sweet for me otherwise, but it does give something reminiscent of a fruity taste.
My normal portion for Brussels sprouts is 250 g. I have no reasons for that quantity, except the practical reason that 1 bag weighs 1.75 kg which gives me exactly 7 portions ^_^
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