Opal Reflections
Perspectives through Prose, Poetry and Photography
Extra-Terrestrials
She came in with a flurry, arms wrapped around a large, open box. It’s seems that she’d been the recipient of a weekly box of farm produce, heaped graciously on her by a friend who was out of town for the week. Our, otherwise serene, Sunday morning had dissolved into a cacophony of dog barks, and human utterances, as we gathered around to explore the contents of the box.
Almost immediately, Grandpa and Aidan lost interest and resumed their, far more engrossing, game of chess. The dogs, on the other hand, sniffed around, waiting for a tasty morsel to be flung their way (they could smell those carrots a mile away); as we divided the spoils.
It was all very logical; Steph claimed the kale, eggplant, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, and the normal-looking carrots, while I volunteered to take the beets (promising to share the resultant pickled beet and onion salad), the funky carrots, the spinach (at least I think it’s spinach) and the unidentified, less common veggies. Fifteen minutes later, having split up the booty, she left as quickly as she had arrived, this time taking her golden and our grandson home with her.
This morning I surveyed the harvest basket, wondering what those strange root veggies were. I researched, googled, compared and labeled until, finally, everything fell into place: The unusual veggies joined the funky carrots in a spectacular soup, the rustic, red beets were slow roasted in the oven, the spinach (sautéed with olive oil and garlic) landed on my dinner table, and the purple beauty (which I now know is Kohlrabi) sits in the fridge, awaiting tomorrow’s starring role in a fabulous slaw.
Fall delivers to us a wonderful, wondrous bounty; colorful, vibrant, flavorful, and mysterious.
9 Comments on “Extra-Terrestrials”
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Lighthouse in the Mist, Cape May, NJ
Bandit
Festive View from the Pub, Peddler’s Village – Lahaska, PA.
Home Sweet Home
Opal Reflections 
I often wonder what the heck is in my Bountiful Basket!
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But it’s fun sorting through and trying to figure it out. I think it’s best when two can share the basket. Although my daughter is juicing these days and just about everything ends up in her juicer😊
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The daikon radish is a staple in Kimchee. My husband spent a lot of time in Korea and our son is Korean and lived there eating those insanely hot dishes until he was five years old. I gathered my courage one day and made ‘for real’ Korean kimchee. It was apparently a culinary success, I don’t eat anything more spicy than ketchup, but they liked it. It does smell the kitchen up for three days and then you want to make sure you store it in air tight jars as the smell of an open container can curl your eyelashes at 50 feet. You can also use it in sushi and kimbop rolls.
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I’ve had Kim chee and loved it…had no idea my lovely radish was part of it. Thank you for the great info on this interesting root vegetable. I’m inspired to learn more. Thank you!
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i know all about kphirabi, yes it is like cole slaw and when i make corn beef and cabbage, for st. patty’s day i now add kohirabi, along with my cabbage, as it is a form of cabbage. it is very good for you. as cabbage it.
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I never knew..it is a lovely vegetable😃
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Mmm, very cool. Love the purple, love the tastes I could almost savor!
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Ha ha. So funny. Seriously, what is that purple thing?
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Kohlrabi…apparently it is particularly nice as a cole slaw. I’ll let you know:)
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