Kale, Turnips & Kohlrabi

It's time to break down my vegetable basket and work up my kahle, turnips and kohlarbi for the freezer. Many of you know how to put up fresh vegetables for freezing, but those who may need a little refreshing, this is for you.

Basically I am going to blanch everything and store them in ziptop bags that have been properly labeled for storage. For your Kale or any other type of green, you will want to cut off the wood stems and I prefer to cut off the woody stem part of the leaves. Some leave this on but I choose not too. You'll want to wash and rinse your leaves well and then place them in a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes. You are not cooking the greens merely blanching them, so leaving them in the water longer is not suggested. Remove greens using a slotted spoon and place into a vessel of cold water. You want to chill the greens as soon as possible to help retain the green color as well as stop the cooking that results from the heat of being in boiling water. Drain and place into a ziptop freezer safe bag. Store in freezer and use when needed.

Turnips are done in a similar fashion as your greens. Your turnip tops or greens as they are commonly referred to are prepped as stated above. The actual turnips themselves will need to be washed, leaves and roots removed, then peeled and cut into cubes. The cubes will be blanched for the same 2 minutes as the greens and again quickly cooled in cold water. Once drained store in freezer safe bags and place in freezer.

Kohlrabi will done in the same fashion as your turnips only you can leave them whole or cubed. Then blanch for 3 minutes instead of 2. Repeat cooling and draining process and freezer bag storage.