Are kohlrabi, patty pans, and fava beans a great mystery to you? Perhaps a bit alien-looking, these veggies are truly delicious. This article will highlight unique locally grown vegetables that you may just want in your next meal!
Patty pan is a summer squash that has a sweet flavour similar to yellow crookneck squash but with a firmer texture. It is small, round, and flat with scalloped edges typically yellow, white, or green coloured. It has phenomenal sources of vitamin A and high levels of vitamin C along with potassium. A great way to cook this vegetable is grilled, cutting them into cubes with salt, olive oil, minced garlic cloves, and black pepper. This summer squash is grown at Boots n ’Roots Permaculture Farm in Glenora, where Farmer Kelly is dedicated to growing and raising foods with the best quality and as naturally as possible by practising permaculture techniques.
Fava beans, also known as broad beans, is a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. The beans form inside large green pods that are high in protein and several other vitamins and minerals. An easy way to prepare beans is by peeling the thick skin of the Fava bean off and sauteing the beans with butter, salt and garlic. These beans are grown at Holy Stick Farm in Cobble Hill, where natural and sustainable farming methods are used to benefit the soil ecosystem.
Kohlrabi is a strange looking vegetable but fun fact; it is a member of the brassica family and tastes similar to a broccoli stem but sweeter! The plant forms a bulb that can be light green or purple with stalks of leaves sprouting out that are also edible! This vegetable has high levels of calcium, magnesium, and a good source of fiber. Kohlrabi is great raw, in salad, roasted or grilled. Kohlrabi is grown at Lockwood Farms in Cobble Hill, where their goal is to produce high quality food for our community while respecting the earth.
These unique vegetables are all locally grown and are an excellent addition to any meal.
