Kohlrabi Mashed Potatoes

I never know what to do with the kohlrabi that I get in my CSA box. They can be thrown into salads raw, they can be braised, and they can be roasted, although I've never thought they brought anything to the dishes (the greens of kohlrabi are quite another story ... for another post). This time, I tried making mashed potatoes with them ... with much the same result ... they still don't bring much to the dish, but they add some nutritional value to a side dish that is most often pretty empty, and I'm happy with that, and everyone was happy eating these mashed potatoes.

I chose to make these mashed potatoes vegan, mostly because my son is allergic to dairy. They can be made with more traditional ingredients (butter, cream, milk), if you prefer.

Kohlrabi Mashed Potatoes
4 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and cut into chunks
1 1/2 lbs. red fingerling potatoes, washed well and cut into chunks (keep skins on)
2 Tbsps. cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
2-6 Tbsps. unsweetened hemp milk, depending on preferred consistency
2 Tbsps. Earth Balance buttery stick

Combine the kohlrabi and potatoes in a large saucepan. Cover the vegetables completely with cold water, adding a 1/2 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and continue to boil until the vegetables can be easily pierced by a fork. Drain.

Transfer vegetables to a large bowl and mash with a potato masher. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Serve.

Serves 8.

Lentil Roast with Acorn Squash, Turnips & Carrots

Talk about cheap! Yes, I haven't talked about cheap in quite some time. Not that I don't still revel in cheap, good food (not to be confused with cheap bad food, of which there is so much that no one in their right mind would bother blogging about it). While expensive food finds its way onto my dinner table from time to time, I have to keep to a pretty tight budget, like most folks these days, and I do everything I can to keep costs low.

That said, I am not in the habit of compromising about food. Quite the opposite! We eat delicious and healthy food at every meal. We just eat less of those things that make most Americans gluttons (meat), and we eat more of the things that most Americans avoid like the plague (veggies).

This recipe is a great example of that kind of eating. The protein is organic green lentils (which I bought in bulk on sale for the dirt cheap price of 66 cents/lb.), the veggies are nearly all from my CSA (to learn more about CSAs and other local food buying options, check out my post about that sort of thing), which means I used about $7 of produce on this meal. I served this stew/roast over kohlrabi mashed potatoes (the kohlrabi was also from the CSA, and the potatoes were local). The whole stew cost about $10, and it serves about 8. Wow! That's $1.25 per serving ... big servings! You can't even do that at McDonald's!

If the cheap, healthy, and green of this meal weren't enough, it's also incredibly easy (and one pot ... well, one baking dish), and it was a hit with the kids ... especially the baby!

Lentil Roast with Acorn Squash, Turnips, & Carrots
1 lb. green lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 small acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
6 small turnips, trimmed of ends and cut into 1" chunks
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 cups homemade or low-sodium veggie stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsps. garam masala
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425F. Combine all ingredients in a 13 x 9 glass baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake for 1.5 hours, stirring every 30 minutes, and adding water if necessary. Serve over kohlrabi mashed potatoes.