Kohlrabi and Yukina Savoy Sautee over Red Quinoa and Barley in Garlic Scape Tzatziki Sauce

As of late, I feel like the names of my meals have become more and more complicated.

I was so excited to come home and cook today.  I had a long, frustratingly unproductive day in the chemistry building after an AMAZING weekend with my best friend from college.  This meal came out better than I expected it to, and I absolutely attribute that to the sauce.  I had a few moments of trepidation about mixing the sauce with the grains and greens, being afraid to ruin the dish, but it came out so. great.

Before I talk about that dish, first I want to share the pasta salad I took to a picnic I had with my visiting friend (Dani) and two new friends, Matt and Matt.

We went to Oliver Winery, bought a bottle of Moscato, and sat outside to eat the food we each brought.  I had so many veggies to use up from the CSA that I thought mixing them with pasta would make a perfect picnic food.  I don’t have any pictures of it, but I do have a picture from our picnic!

CSA Pasta Salad
–boil a 1 lb bag of rigatoni with 1 cup (cooked) black beans.  When I’m making pasta salad I cook the noodles a little bit past al dente since they will be served cold
-while the pasta is cooking, toss 2 sliced beets, 8 chopped garlic scapes, and 2 chopped kohlrabi, including stems and greens in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt.
-roast the veggies at 400 degrees for 20ish minutes
-add olive oil to the pasta and toss the veggies together
-add goat or another soft cheese and blend all together

This salad was so cheap.  I had bought the pasta for $1, the leftover black beans cost me about $0.20, and all in all the CSA veggies were probably $3.25.  That makes this salad about $4.50, but it lasted through the picnic and 3 more meals!

Anyway, onto the main meal I’m trying to blog about.  I’ve been really, really bad about posting what I’ve been getting in the CSA as of late.  This week I got Irish Cobbler potatoes (already gone, boiled them, then seasoned with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and parsley), Yukina Savoy, Kohlrabi, Cabbage, and a cucumber. When I came home, I went through the fridge and pulled out everything that *needed* to get used soon, along with some grains that had been sitting in my pantry for a while, and the tofu I opened last night.

tonight’s ingredients

Let me take you through my thought process:

1.  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph that’s a lot of garlic scapes.  I’m going to pickle those with the kohlrabi because I am getting sick of kohlrabi
2.  I have a cucumber, garlic, AND plain yogurt?  tzatziki- no brainer
3.  Does tzatziki go with quinoa?
4.  Does it matter?
5.  I’m sick of eating greens raw so I’m going to sautee them.
6.  I can add mint leaves to the tzatziki.
7.  Browned tofu sounds really good.
8.  I’m going to sautee the tofu/greens and serve them over the quinoa/barley, and mix in the sauce.

..and that is pretty much a look inside my brain at how meals are made.

If you’ve never heard of yukina savoy before, you’re not alone.  I never had, either, before the CSA.  If you’ve ever eaten in a Japanese restaurant before, though, you have probably had it, or something similar.  It’s what I consider to be hardy.  It sautees really well because it maintains some of its crunchy silkiness.  if that makes sense.

-chop tofu, kohlrabi greens, and yukina savoy
-coat a large pan with olive oil and add the veggies.  Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and zahtar
-sautee, but also let sit for 2-3 minutes at a time to allow tofu to brown
-combine quinoa and greens/tofu
-in a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup plain yogurt, 1/4 finely chopped cucumber, 2 finely chopped garlic scapes, a couple dashes of salt, and 3 finely chopped mint leaves
-combine, add black sesame seeds, and toss together in a large bowl

Like I said, I was worried about adding the sauce and ruining the flavors.  The zahtar and black sesame seeds, however, went really well with the garlicy sauce.  Also, I’m not sure when I got so into tofu, but it’s most definitely thanks to Becca!

Total Cost: $5.35

–1/2 cup organic red quinoa: $0.88
-1/4 cup organic barley: $0.40
-1/2 package organic tofu: $1.00
-1/4 organic cucumber: $0.25
-greens from two organic kohlrabi: $1.00
-2 organic garlic scapes: $0.15
-1/4 cup organic plain yogurt: $0.42
-3 organic yukina savoy leaves: $1.00
-3 organic mint leaves: $0.25

Considering I had enough for 2 helpings, plus lunch tomorrow, I’d say this turned out pretty great 🙂

Pickled Kohlrabi and Garlic Scapes

I can’t believe how I become more and more overrun with vegetables every week.

I also can’t believe how much fun I have coming up with new ways to make my vegetables.

Like pickling!

This has seriously become one of my favorite ways to use up the vegetables that I’m getting sick or have too many of.  I’m trying extremely hard to not let anything go to waste, and I’m proud to say I haven’t had to throw anything away yet (I will admit I let some otherwise edible beet greens/stems go into the produce bag because I just couldn’t stomach the thought of eating any more).

I adapted this recipe for pickled kohlrabi in my cookbook DIY Delicious.  As per usual, I made quite a few adjustments.

Pickled Kohlrabi and Garlic Scapes

-dice two kohlrabi including greens and stems
-chop ~5 garlic scapes
-in a saucepan combine 1 cup distilled vinegar, 1 whole garlic clove (peeled), 1 teaspoon raw sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds.

i love the turmeric color

-let ingredients simmer until everything is combined
-meanwhile, sterilize a mason jar and pack the vegetables into the bottom

this part always reminds me of sand art from when I was little

-once the vinegar mixture is ready (~5 minutes), pour over vegetables, seal jar, and let sit in fridge for 3 days.

I wish I had a picture of what everything looked like after the 3 days- such a great yellow color.  The kohlrabi pickles really well and the best part is, if you have people over they’re always super impressed by pretty much everything about pickling.  First of all, it looks so freaking quaint to pull a mason jar out of your fridge.  Secondly, the colors of pickled vegetables are usually amazing.  Third, even though it’s easy to do, just saying that you pickled something if you’re under 65 sounds kind of BA.  Maybe the Bloomington hipster mindset is starting to infiltrate my brain.

Tonight I served this with grilled tofu, bison burgers, and a brown rice/red quinoa side dish I made last night that I totally regret not taking pictures of.  Basically, I combined brown rice, red quinoa, chopped kohlrabi, chopped mint leaves, black beans, and garlic scapes in the rice cooker so that I could have something for lunch today.  Totally delicious.

Total Price: $2.65

–2 organic kohlrabi: $2.00
-5 organic garlic scapes: $0.25
-1 organic garlic clove: $0.10
-vinegar/spices: $0.30

$2.65 seems like a lot to me, at first, but when I think about it, I’ve had the pickled veggies for a side dish in two meals for myself, I served it tonight as a side for 3 people, and I put the rest in my lunch.  I’d say I stretched every last cent out of that.

Black bean – kale – kohlrabi – garlic scape burgers

yikes, that’s a mouthful.

This really is the best part about the CSA- the opportunity to make bizarre meals.  My inspiration actually came from this blog, where there was a recipe for garlic scape and kale hummus.  I figured since I had garlic scapes and kale, but no chickpeas, I could make a black bean hummus.  I also have more kohlrabi than I know what to do with, so obviously I wanted to add that, too.  After I got everything in the food processor it dawned on me that I should just add some cornmeal, too, and make burgers!

Last night I topped the burgers with plain yogurt and chipotle chili powder.

 

Tonight I added my caliente goat cheese and a fried egg….DELICIOUS

I’m not the best at taking food pics haha

I definitely like the black bean burgers best with cheese and egg.

If I were my roommate, I would probably like this with olive tapenade.

CSA black bean burgers

–chop 2 kohlrabi (root, stem, and leaves)

-steam in the microwave for 2 minutes
-add to the food processor, along with 5 chopped garlic scapes and a handful kale

 

-blend in the food processor
-add a 29 ounce can of blackbeans, continue to process
-add cornmeal, a 1/4 cup at a time, until the desired consistency is reached
-add cumin, taco seasoning, and crushed red pepper, blend
-form burgers and bake at 400 degrees until crispy or you lose patience

Total Price: $4.39 ($0.37/burger)

–1 29 oz. can black beans: $0.99
-5 organic garlic scapes: $0.15
-2 organic kohlrabi: $2.00
-organic kale: $1.00
– 1/4 cup organic cornmeal: $0.25

Toppings:
-1 container organic plain yogurt: $0.80
-organic caliente goat cheese: $2.00