Although there’s nothing particularly exotic about the kohlrabi – my friend Andrew Williams’ parents used to grow them in the back garden in Bournemouth – I actually have never eaten one until prompted by my 30-day challenge.
I discovered through a Delia Smith recipe that the stalks of broccoli are much more interesting to eat, sliced like matchsticks, than the florets. Kohlrabi as a brassica is like an enormous round broccoli stalk, but slightly less peppery.
I was starving when I was chopping it up, so I ate a quarter of it raw like crudités. I like it. I put the rest into a vegetable curry, and it was great. It adds body, depth and crunch. What I’m looking forward to next time is making a kohlrabi-apple-mint coleslaw from this page, though I’ll probably replace the 1/4 cup of cream with something less rich.
After only 11 days, I’m already looking back on my pre-challenge shopping habits, and thinking how dull it all was. I have spent less, shopped less, eaten less, and enjoyed food much more since I started this. It feels like I have some control and imagination back.
I’ve given up listing everything that’s cheaper. Chicken legs, lamb mince, tomatoes, chilli powder, lemons. Oh and what a relief to be able to tell the butcher how much you want, rather than having to decide between packs that are too big or too small.
