in the kitchen: off the beaten path

Given all the fresh produce of the season from our garden, the CSA, and of course the grocery store, we've been trying out some different ingredients and different recipes.

Beets are quickly moving up my favorite list. I really enjoy them steamed, but we've also tried out a very colorful beet root yogurt dish called pachadi in Malayalam. It's really not as intense as it looks.   It's in fact a mild yogurt dish to accompany rice and such.

Kohlrabi -- a new ingredient to me.  Very tasty prepared as thoran, a typical South Indian dish. 

And, we've had lots of watermelon over the past few weeks.  I saw a recipe in this cookbook for pickled watermelon rind and my sister and I made it.  It's quite refreshing - a little sweet, a hint of ginger and star anise, and a nice cold crunch.