Door to Door Organics + Berry Patch Farm = New Discovery

Every other Thursday, Door to Door Organics delivers a box of local produce to my doorstep. I rush home from work to take stock of the treasures, and to discover the cooking they’ll inspire. Recent dishes include an apricot-frangipane pie, summer vegetable cianfotta (stew), and roasted baby-beet salad.

The last delivery included several bulbs of kohlrabi, a vegetable I’d never used in cooking before. I dutifully paged through my beloved Joy of Cooking and searched Epicurious for tasty recipes that would play to the veggie’s radish-jicama-cabbage flavors. There was a gratin, a roasted butternut squash and kohrabi dish, and a mâche salad, but nothing stuck, until I visited Berry Patch Farms in Brighton.

This 40-acre organic farm is the bucolic setting of you-pick-it raspberries, strawberries, and other crops, as well as a “farm market.” Set inside a 90-year-old red barn, the farm’s bounty is for sale, displayed in overflowing baskets of new potatoes and elephant garlic and neatly arranged rows of just-harvested wax beans, summer squash, scallions…and kohlrabi. Scattered about the produce are tidy stacks of recipes, typed up for customers to tuck into their market baskets.

When I spied a recipe for kohlrabi and apple slaw with creamy coleslaw dressing, I knew just what to do with the veggie that was sitting in my fridge. That evening, I combined cream, lemon juice, and fresh mint with slices of crunchy kohlrabi for a salad that was crisp, refreshing, and the essence of summer.

Here’s the recipe:

Kohlrabi and Apple Slaw with Creamy Coleslaw Dressing

Dressing: Whisk 1/4 cup cream into light pillows (this takes about one minute). Stir in 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon good mustard, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, salt and pepper, and chopped fresh mint.

Salad: Trim and peel 1 pound fresh kohlrabi and two apples (I omitted the apples). Grate or cut into batons. Toss with dressing, and serve immediately.

13785 Potomac St., Brighton, 303-659-5050