(Written tongue-in-cheek)
Before you turnip your nose at this, try it first.
We recently wrote about cabbages and things, that is,
vegetables from the mustard-family, which includes kohlrabi,
radish and turnip, among others. We noted that these are rich
in fiber and known to prevent or deflect cancer even once it
has striken. The East European diet of our grandparents was
rich in these vegetables, probably because there was no
electric refrigeration, and they were very poor and could not
afford anything that was not cheap or in season. Thence the
cabbage, turnip, radish, beet, potato and carrot diet. All
very healthful foods, full of vitamins and minerals.
Which brings us to SHEIB A REIBEL. This is a very simple
salad my Galicianer husband taught me. You take a TURNIP and
grate it coarsely, add a little salt, a little oil. That's
all.
Never bought turnips? Don't know what they are? Turnips are
like radishes, white, and without the tang. The above salad
is very good in small amounts. In fact, it may become a
family favorite, and they may crown you
QUEEN OF SHEIB'A REIBEL!
And now to KOHLRABI. I don't think I ever saw it in America.
Perhaps our local greengrocer didn't carry it because there
was no demand for it. This is an amazing, versatile
vegetable. Looks like a turnip, round, light green, but not
smooth. Very different in taste.
Eat it raw: shredded thick or thin, with salt and oil.
Or shredded together with carrots and tossed with some
vinegar, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and a dash of sugar =
coleslaw made in jiffy that is inexpensive and doesn't need
checking. (This Shabbos salad can be frozen.) Beware,
however, of kohlrabis that are stringy.
Cook it: (if you got stringy kohlrabis, put them in
your soups). Peeled and quartered, it adds a flavor very
similar to cabbage. Kohlrabi can be cooked all by itself,
with only a little salt and water, and eaten as a side dish.
Really delicious and filling. It can be mashed and fried into
patties by adding salt, pepper, egg and matza meal.
A delicious kugel: kohlrabi, carrot, squash, onion and
potato. Start off with one of each. Next time round, it'll be
two.
Grate the vegetables (thick, if you like.) Add egg (2), salt,
pepper and matza meal. Is best baked in an oven since the
squash tends to make it watery and the kugel will not flip
well when fried in a frying pan. (To flip pan-fried potato
kugel, just jiggle and loosen the kugel in the pan until it
is free, then cover with a large plate and hoopla, over you
go. Slide the upside down kugel back in the frying pan and
add some more oil to cook the underside. Panfried kugels take
quicker than ovenbaked ones, and if you grate them thick, you
can turn one out every fifteen minutes! I know! I once made a
Pesach bris for a grandchild, and that's what we all ate.)
WE FEED YOU, WE ALSO WANT FEEDBACK. Please let us know how
you like this style of cooking advice.
