CSA week 3: conquering the Asian green mix

After feeling like I did really well with week 2's box and being totally in love with the kale and escarole, here is the rundown for what came in week 3:

-1 bunch of green onions

-1 Bok Choy

-2 kohlrabi

-1 bunch hakurei turnips (At first glance, the first thing that came to my mind was Harajuku which was the name of Gwen Stefani's backup dancers when she went solo as a singer.  Obviously we are talking about 2 completely different things here, but for a quick explanation they are a small white bulb that has a sweeter taste to it compared to a regular waxy turnip that you would find in a grocery store).

-1/2 lb leaf lettuce mix

-1/2 lb Asian/braising mix 

-1 head red deer tongue

-1 head red leaf lettuce

-1 head romaine lettuce

-1 2 inch sage plant

All of the lettuces went to salads throughout the week and by the following Friday (which is the day that we pick up our box) there was no lettuce left.  The hakurei turnips were trimmed and will be used with the ones that we get in week 4 since you do not get a lot of them and I believe a simple pan sear with some butter and sugar is going to be the preparation method of choice.  Our sage plant was planted along with the rest of our herbs and as you can see below are coming along nicely on the deck.

I didn't use my kohlrabi bulbs from last week and kind of went back and forth with how I was going to prepare them now that I had 4 of them.  A few different thoughts popped in my head with ways to prepare them and our friend Martha Stewart actually highlighted kohlrabi in her June 2011 issue under the "Great Things" section which I've included below.  http://www.marthastewart.com/search/apachesolr_search/Kohlrabi?filters=type_name%3ARecipe&clicktype=type_name.  At first thought I was going just going to oven roast them but everyone who I talked to whose had the kohlrabi before, raved about how great it was in a slaw so I figured "these people know their veggies, let me take one from their playbook on this one".  Once it is all mixed up together, it had that fresh summer salad taste and will pair well with burgers or other grilled meats. 

Kohlrabi and Apple Slaw

-4 kohlrabi bulbs (leaves trimmed off and peeled)

-1 granny smith apple
-1/2c dried cranberries
-1/2c mayonnaise
-2tbs apple cider vinegar
-1 1/2 tbs olive oil
-1tbs maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Using a Japanese flat slicer or a food processor, cut the kohlrabi bulbs into matchstick size pieces.  You should have about 3-4 cups of kohlrabi.  Dice up the granny smith apple into similar sized pieces and mix together in a medium sized bowl.  In a small bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients until they are smooth, dressing like consistency.  Pour dressing over the slaw and toss together until well mixed.  Stir in the dried cranberries and season with salt and pepper until it is to your liking. 

*fun health fact: kohlrabi is very high in potassium and vitamin C

Finally there was the bag of Asian greens and as you've learned from previous posts, this was becoming quite the problem child for me in the box each week.  If you tried to eat them raw, they have somewhat of a bitter taste and the combination of them has a weird texture which was starting to freak me out.  All of the other CSA-ers that I know made stir-fry with them and were big fans so I set out on Wednesday night to conquer my fears of the Asian mix and in one meal, by cooking them in a different way there was success on all ends and something that I wouldn't mind at all eating in the future.  I don't really think that anyone needs a recipe to follow when they are making stir-fry because a) it's so so easy as once you have all of your ingredients prepped, there is very little hands on cooking time and b) it is one of those great opportunities to throw whatever you have in your fridge or pantry into a pan and it will taste good regardless of what you use.  But to recreate the dinner below here is the quick rundown of steps and some key pointers that come in handy as you are actually in the throws of cooking.

• In a medium sized bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of soy sauce with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch which is going to act as your marinade for your proteins.  I used 1 lb of boneless pork chops that I cut into 1/4in x 2in strips (Please by no means do you need to pull out a ruler when you are cutting. Just eyeball it and envision that you want your meat to be thin strips like you get in a Chinese restaurant).  Let the meat marinate in the bowl for a few minutes while you are getting your other ingredients prepped.
• Chop up and prepare the veggie portion of your stir fry.  For my version, I used a handful of shredded carrots that I had in the fridge, half a package of sliced mushrooms, the 2/3 lb bag of Asian mix, a few stalks of Bok Choy, 4 or 5 scallions chopped up and some peanuts to give it some crunch. 
• Let your skillet or wok heat up on high for a good 5 minutes (I would recommend not using a nonstick pan for this in order for everything to cook quickly and caramelize).  Have ready what you are going to be adding to the stir-fry for flavoring so that you don't have to abandon the pan half way through when you are trying to find a bottle in the back of your cabinet.  I used a combination of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, mirin (a sweet rice wine) and some chili garlic sauce. (This is a cousin of siracha that gave the stir fry a kick.  If you don't have it and still want some heat, just use a little bit of your favorite hot sauce). 
• Once the skillet is good and hot, add some vegetable oil to the pan and you will see it shimmer as soon as it hits the heat.  Toss in your protein and let it cook for a 2-3 minutes moving the meat around with a spatula until it is cooked on the outside.  Toss in your veggies (sans Asian mix) and condiments and let it all cook together for another 5 minutes until the protein is cooked throughout and everything else has a tender bite to it.  In the last minute or 2 of cooking throw in your Asian mix that will wilt in quickly from the heat and you are good to go

I served mine over simple white rice and the best part about the meal was that I was literally at the stove for all of 10 minutes.