What in the world is kohlrabi? - A beginner cook's experience with the octopus-vegetable-thing.

Kohlrabi. You’ve probably seen it at Farmers Markets before and passed it up because you don’t know what to do with it. I admit… it looks a bit odd. It slightly resembles a weird cross between an octopus and a turnip, which is what drew my attention to it at the Niantic Farmers Market. It was only a dollar per bulb which seemed like a deal to me... even if I didn’t know what the heck to do with it once I brought it home. (Kohlrabi comes in purple and pale green. I went with purple.)

Thank goodness for the internet. The vendors at the Market were all very helpful in giving me ideas as to what to do with my newfound octopus-vegetable-thing, but I promptly forgot all their hints, tips and ideas by the time I made my way home. So I promptly scoured the internet and found this New York Times recipe for kohlrabi home fries. It seemed easy enough for a cooking newbie like myself, so I preheated the oven and went to work.

Time to slice and dice. One thing I learned the hard way about kohlrabi is that you have to make sure to peel it thoroughly. The skin will not soften after cooking which makes for less than appealing home fries. All in all, it wasn’t horrible to peel. All you need is a sharp paring knife and good lighting so you can see well enoughget all of the skin layers off. Once peeled, you can actually eat kohlrabi raw. I found the taste to be like a sweet mild cabbage.

A pseudo-emergency. Somehow my dogs ate some of the kohlrabi greens. After some online research I discovered that they’d be fine; however, large amounts of kohlrabi and kohlrabi greens are not recommended for dogs. Humans however can cook the greens or use them in salads.

Dinner is served. The home fries were a pretty easy recipe and, minus the dog mishap, I was able to complete the task without too much trouble. (Although they're not as pretty as the article's fries.) The hardest part was making sure all the home fries were approximately the same thickness. 

Overall verdict. Kohlrabi, I think I love you. We can get over appearances.

Kohlrabi tidbits. Kohlrabi gets its name from the German words for cabbage and turnip. Despite appearances, it’s actually not a root vegetable; it’s a member of the cabbage family and grows above ground. You can typically find it from summer to early autumn.  

-- The anonymous Niantic Farmers Market cooking blogger