how to eat a kohlrabi

We lived in the woods, in a house that resembled a Swiss chalet, made with rocks that came from the fields not one hundred yards away. I was 8 and summertime seemed to last forever.

Life was so carefree and I was so tanned. Wild berries grew all around us, all we had to do was hunt for them. Dad would plant a huge garden every spring. How I hated to weed those rows, but, even then, I still loved the smell that tomatoes have hanging off the vine.

Along with tomatoes, green beans, beets and peas, Dad would always plant kohlrabi, I'm not sure where he first learned to like this humble root vegetable, but it quickly became a favorite of my siblings and I. We would use our fingers to dig one out of the warm dirt and then peel off the skin with a kitchen knife (we were careful, mom!) and then cover each slice with salt. Crisp, crunchy, salty and so delicious!

I bought one at the farmers market this week. Hoping to re-live some happy summer memories. My baby sister sat at the kitchen counter and, of course, wanted to know what I was doing, "cutting a kohlrabi" I said, "A kor-korabi" she repeated. Then we laughed. I proceeded to cut it up and toss it in a bowl of salty water, then I reached in and grabbed a piece, handed it to her and told her to taste it.

And then I told her to story of when I was little. She loved it. The story and the kohlrabi.

[how to eat a kohlrabi]

1 kohlrabi

sea salt

water

lay the kohlrabi on it's side and with a sharp knife, slice off top, leaves and bottom stem. You should have a somewhat spherical shaped green thing. Peel the kohlrabi. Cut into pieces. Fill a small bowl with water, stir in about a teaspoon of sea salt until dissolved. Toss kohlrabi in salt water and eat.

best enjoyed outside at sunset as you wait for the lightening bugs to appear...

market report 7.12.11

Troy, a local farmer, has the most beautiful arrangement of his veggies. He displays his lettuce, fresh herbs and other greens together in large wooden box trays and then sprinkles red & yellow edible flowers over the top.

[today's date]

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

[weather]

Warm and temps in the high 80's, delicious kettle corn scented air surrounded us as we shopped.

[busyness]

Medium-ish. A huge thunderstorm swept through the county on Monday, many of our neighbors & local businesses were without power. Vendors were running on generator power.

[in-season]

Fresh herbs, potted plants, swiss chard, kale, lettuce, green onions, garlic, potatoes, arugula, tomatoes, green beans, and carrots

[purchased]

5 long-stemmed carrots, a tri-colored bunch of onions, & 1 kohlrabi

[heard thru the grapevine]

The storm on Monday brought 80 mph winds, causing power-outages and many felled trees. I observed on my drive to work corn stalks laid flat in the fields. We'll have to wait and see if this will affect the harvesting.

[gluten free & dairy free] spring market salad

At least for me, it always seems easier to eat salads during the summer. Right? Its hot outside, cold food is more appealing, fresh things are growing, fresh things are fresher (of course), and you are planning to go to the beach that weekend (that always make potato chips less than appealing).

Fresh salad greens were in abundance at the market. I bought several bunches and took them home for my ideal "fast food", tossed salad! I planned to mix it with some other veggies, leftover baked organic chicken and a light citrus dressing.

The "recipe" couldn't be easier, just wash and coarsely chop greens, slice up tomato (not in season, look for organic on-the-vine at your grocery store), cucumbers, blanched asparagus, chopped organic chicken breast and toss with fresh lime juice & olive oil. Finish with cracked pepper and a pink Himalayan salt. Dear salad, its nice to have you back in my life again.

[ r e c i p e ]

spring market salad

1 small bunch Spring Lettuce (washed and chopped)

1/2 medium Tomato (diced)

1/4 medium cucumber (sliced)

5 spears of Asparagus (washed and trimmed)

1/3 cup Organic Baked Chicken Breast (chopped)

1/2 Fresh Lime

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a small saucepan boil 1/2 cup of water, add asparagus and cover for 3 minutes, check for done-ness. Asparagus should be bright green and tender. Continue cooking or remove from pan. Allow to cool several minutes then slice. Layer lettuce, tomato, cukes & asparagus in a large, wide bowl or plate. Place chicken on top. Squeeze lime over chicken, drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste.

enjoy with a tall glass of iced tea and cheery music on the back porch...

market report [5.17.2011]

(every Tuesday I will be bringing you a report of what's going on at my local market. what's picking, what's growing and any other juicy tidbits that you might like. enjoy!)

[today's date]

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

[weather]

50-ish degrees and chilly in the shade, I tried to stay in the sunshine!

[busyness]

Slow. The cold weather kept some away, but the dedicated locals were there.

[in-season]

Fresh herbs, potted plants, rhubarb, bok choy, lettuce, green onions, spring, garlic, lilacs, tulips, asparagus, and sorrel.

[purchased]

3 bunches of spring greens ($1 each), 2 bok choys ($1 each), 1 gluten free Iris cookie from Jaci's Cookies (oops, how did that get in there?), 1 bag of baby spinach ($2.50).

[heard thru the grapevine]

We need a few sunny days to get the next set of crops growing and blooming.

[gluten free & dairy free] sorrel scramble

"What's the best way to eat it?" I asked, she quickly responded with "Quiche! With sharp cheddar cheese and herbs". The recipe that she rattled off to me sounded delicious and was all I needed to hear as I quickly paid for and slipped the whole bunch of French Sorrel into my bag. I couldn't recall ever tasting sorrel before, so when I discovered it my local market, I was excited to give it a try.

A lemon-y and slightly sharp pepper flavor hit my taste buds as I first bit into the bright green leaf. I find it helpful to taste an ingredient that I'm unfamiliar with before I begin to cook. It helps me to better choose what I season and mix it with.

I ran out of time for a quiche, but knew that all of the ingredients could be made into a scrambled egg dish. I began by washing and chopping the sorrel, adding mushrooms & green onion. Then quickly sauteed them in a small skillet (quickly is key, as the sorrel starts to become mushy if you overcook) and set the whole mess aside as I whipped up two large eggs and scrambled them in the pan with a sprinkle of kosher salt & a crack of black pepper. When the eggs had set, I added the veggies and Daiya non-dairy cheddar cheese, lightly tossed everything together and waited for the cheese to melt (it really does!).

[ r e c i p e ]

sorrel scramble

1 cup French Sorrel, washed and chopped

(about) 5 Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 small Green Onion, sliced

2 Organic Eggs

1/4 cup Daiya Cheddar Cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Saute Sorrel, Mushrooms & Green Onions in extra virgin coconut oil until soft. Remove from pan. Beat eggs and scramble in pan over low heat. When eggs are set, add veggies and Daiya. Turn off heat and allow cheese to melt. Top with salt and fresh pepper.

serves 1

perfect for an early morning with toasted gluten free toast, fresh watermelon & berries, orange juice and a copy of today newspaper...

[gluten & dairy free] darling vanilla bean scones

Don't you just love tiny food? I do, cutting something into small pieces magically creates something sigh-worthy. And is it just me, or does bite sized also mean "take three they're small"?

Darling vanilla bean scones were the perfect thing to whip up for a light Mothers Day breakfast that I was fixed last weekend. I visited the farm market with hopes of finding something to pair with my treats and settled on a sweet cherry jam from one of the vendors. Bingo! And this recipe would give me an opportunity to try out a pre-blended gluten free flour mix that we have in stock at Simple Market, called Better Batter. It's been on my to-do list since last autumn, but I haven't gotten around to baking anything with it yet.

I wondered if I could possibly re-create a gluten & dairy free version of the best selling treat from a certain green & white mermaid logo-ed coffee shop chain. I was very easy to do, with the gf flour, vegetable shortening instead of butter and unsweetened almond milk in place of cream. Honestly, I didn't miss any of those ingredients once I tasted these tender morsels! I used one large organic egg (from my backyard!), but by substituting an egg replacer, these could be made vegan as well.

I mixed up the dry ingredients, cut in the shortening and lightly tossed with a fork until blended. Then I turned the dough on to a floured surface and cut them into tiny triangles. Then waited for them to toast up in the oven and glazed them with a dreamy, speckled vanilla bean icing. They were deliciously light and a little crumbly, I loved how the glaze held them together and kept them moist until breakfast the next morning. They would be a delightful start to any day or a wonderful addition to a tea party.

[ r e c i p e ]

darling vanilla scones

3 cups All-Purpose Flour (I used Better Batter)

2/3 cup Unrefined Sugar

5 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoons Salt

1 cup Vegetable Shortening (I used Spectrum brand)

3/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk (Feel free to substitute with cow, coconut or other nut milks)

1 whole Large Egg

speckled vanilla bean glaze

3 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted

1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk (I used Pacific Naturals)

1/2 of a whole Vanilla Bean, scraped

directions;

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together gf flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry cutter, blend shortening into flour until mixture is a crumbly texture. Push mixture to the sides of the bowl, leaving a well in the middle, set aside. In a separate bowl (I like to use a large Pyrex measuring cup) measure out milk, add egg and mix until slightly combined. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix with a fork just until combined. Flour a large, clean surface with about 1/4 cup of gf flour and turn out dough. Pat into a large rectangle and use a knife to slice into row, and then into small triangles. Carefully lift scones and place onto a parchment lined baking tray. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. While scones are in the oven, mix together powdered sugar, milk & vanilla bean "caviar" until smooth and creamy. Remove baked scones from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before moving onto a cooling tray (place more parchment underneath for quick clean up), pour a thin layer of glaze over the scones, making sure that the whole scone is covered. Allow to dry & enjoy!

Enjoy with farmers market cherry jam, a steaming cup of earl grey tea and a classic novel...

(all ingredients supplied by me & Simple Market. Better Batter does not sponsor this blog)

[spiced gluten free pancakes with honeyed strawberry rhubarb compote]

The first farmers market of the year occurred last Tuesday. When you live north of Chicago, spring doesn't start until May and even then, there isn't much growing in our gardens. That is why I was so pleasantly surprised to see that there were so many fresh things at our first market.

Quite a few of my favorite vendors from last year were back again with their offerings. The fresh produce is still trickling in, this week it was tons of green onions and spring garlic. I bought some green onions and they were easy enough to work with, I brought them home to sauté with butter and toss with hot quinoa pasta, fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. But then I spied some rhubarb, rhubarb I can work with! I quickly bought several stalks from Providence Farms.

I love rhubarb! The bright, tart, oh-so-springy taste of rhubarb. Because of its tartness, some can shy away from cooking with rhubarb, but my plan was to use stevia to kill the tang and then finish it off with some local honey. Rhubarb has some great health benefits, as long as you don't can find a way to keep the sugar content lower. Which reminds me of childhood friends who would take the raw stalk and dip them into the sugar bowl!

This sounded like a good start to breakfast for me. With rhubarb, I mean, not a bowl of sugar! Why not a make a compote with strawberries and serve it over the top of some spiced gluten free pancakes? I began with a saucepan of fresh, chopped rhubarb, water, stevia and strawberries. As that began to bubble and reduce, I whipped up a batch of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancakes. This pancake mix is so easy to make and also versatile, you can use virtually any nut milk and add whatever you like to the batter. I wanted it to have a sort of spicy, warm flavor to pair with the sweet honeyed fruit. Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger would be just right!

This is the perfect breakfast for a chilly spring morning, serve with nitrate free chicken sausage and your favorite mug filled to the brim with hot coffee. Bon Appetit!

[ r e c i p e ]

honeyed strawberry rhubarb compote:

3 stalks (about 2 cups) chopped fresh rhubarb

1/2 packet of organic stevia

1/4 cup locally grown honey

3 tablespoons of water

6 chopped fresh strawberries

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Give it a few stirs with a wooden spoon and watch it begin to bubble. Reduce mixture until strawberries are soft and the rhubarb is stringy. At this point you can add more sweetener to taste.

spiced gluten free pancakes:

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger

Mix up pancake mix according to directions on the back. For this recipe I used So Delicious Coconut Milk and melted Nutiva Coconut Oil in place of water and oil. Add spices to mix and bake on a 350 degree griddle.

Stack pancakes on plate and pour hot compote over the top. If you're feeling extra daring, add a drizzle of local honey.

(serves about 4 people)

The Farm & Market

[w e l c o m e t o t h e f a r m & m a r k e t b l o g]

[ w h o i s a b i g a i l ?]

The girl behind the food, photos and words. I'm a foodie. A gluten free foodie. The kitchen is my favorite place to be and I believe that gluten free is not flavor free. My goal is to showcase some of my favorite products, to offer delicious recipes & menus, to answer questions and share my observations on the GF life with you.

[ w h y a g l u t e n f r e e c u l i n a r y b l o g ? ]

Why indeed! The gluten free lifestyle is something that has become very important to me the past few years. My mother was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance in 2009, and as we learned more of her condition, we discovered that her intolerance can be genetic. At that point I chose to become gluten free as well, although not diagnosed, I enjoy many benefits from living a GF lifestyle.

[ t h e f a r m ]

The Farm! My family owns and manages a farm in beautiful, rural Illinois. We are currently raising chickens organically for meat and eggs (I love using fresh farm eggs in many of my recipes!) and grass fed beef. We are also in the process of becoming certified organic. Knowing that your food comes from your own backyard is truly a locavore's dream!

[ & t h e m a r k e t ]

In September of 2010, my sister and I opened Simple Market in Woodstock, IL. Simple Market is a small health food store that specializes in gluten free foods, locally grown food and several vitamin lines. Simple Market combines three things that I am most passionate about and allows me to share them with the world (or at least a small part of the world). If you're ever in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello!

So that's a little about me, leave me a comment and tell me a little about you.