Crunch 'n' Munch Salad

I've been trying for the past couple of months to buy something new to me each time I go to the store, to widen my repertoire and to get out of the blogging blahs. My latest attempt is kohlrabi, a vegetable I had never tasted and rarely even heard about.

Kohlrabi is actually an enlarged stem of a plant closely related to broccoli (oh, those lovable crucifers!) so once the barrel-shaped purple stem was peeled down to its pale green innards, it tasted like very mild, crisp broccoli with celery root texture. I'd say that kohlrabi is to broccoli as celery root is to celery, a milder, sweeter cousin.

A few days ago, we ate half the kohlrabi in our Hobo Packets, but I still had a bit left, so I decided to try making a sort of chunky slaw with the remainder. I cut the kohlrabi into matchsticks and sliced a fennel bulb into into curls of about the same thickness, squeezed half a Meyer lemon over them and, just before serving, tossed both with a Dijon-style mustard vinaigrette made with Meyer lemon juice and olive oil. Garnished with lemon zest and a sprig of fennel leaf, it made a pretty salad with a manly crunch and a sweet-tart tang.

If that doesn't get me out of the blogging blahs, nothing will!

Med Veg

Because I had successfully harvested my first three zucchinis before they became baseball bats, despite being away on vacation for a good part of the last three weeks, I tried to think of a way to cook them that would enhance their innocent flavor.

I also had a single ripe tomato from my Early Girl plant, which got me thinking "Mediterranean" and that led me to the half bulb of fennel that was lurking in the vegetable drawer, which reminded me of a jar of nice McEvoy Ranch Tuscan table olives full of briny goodness, and that seemed to call for herbes de Provence.

Somehow, sauteeing didn't seem right and grilling wasn't quite it, nor did I want to add water and steam them - then, finally, I remembered that I had seen veggies roasted in parchment paper using just a little olive oil or butter to add richness - perfect!

Having sliced the veggies thinly, seeded the olives and quartered the tomato, I whipped out my seldom-used parchment paper, made little packets of the mixed veggies and herbs, dotted the top with butter, folding the paper over and tucking it in as my Mom used to do with the waxed paper for our lunchbox sandwiches, and slid them on a cookie sheet into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. The result was simply heavenly, a savory-sweet mixture that made the most of all the veggies in the packet.

I'd make this again for guests - it was that good! It would be easy to make up ahead and pop into the oven 10 or 15 minutes before serving. Each guest would get her/his own packet, which was fun to open, a little like a mysterious present, even for me who knew exactly what went into each one! They'd make a nice vegetarian lunch (even vegan if you went for the olive oil) and are a terrific side dish for dinner.

And all that from three little zucchinis, dark green and shiny, with a Mediterranean twist.