Kohlrabi

APPEARANCE: Botanically this vegetable is a swollen stem. It is as hard as a root, 2 to 4 inches in diameter, light green or purplish-red on the outside, always white inside, with or without leaves, but always with knobby leaf bases scattered over the surface.

QUALITY: Choose those that are solid, clear-skinned, and small. Those smaller than a tennis ball probably don’t need peeling; those larger than 4 to 5 inches in diameter (i.e. old) can be woody. Skin color (green or red) seems unrelated to eating quality.