Kohlrabi

I love root vegetables.  Potatoes, turnips, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, whatever.  I can get almost rhapsodic about parsnips (like here). I like their versatility, their nutrition, and not least their durability.  Root vegetables don’t go limp or soggy or moldy after 48 hours.

One vegetable I’d come across in books but hadn’t actually ever seen in person was kohlrabi.  It looks a bit like some outer space alien with a roundish green shape and stems coming out at all angles.  Best as I could tell from what I’ve read, it was interchangeable with other white roots, like parsnips and turnips. It turns out that it really isn’t quite that simple.  Kohlrabi isn’t an actual root vegetable but is biologically closer to cabbage.  If you blind-tasted it, you’d guess cabbage or broccoli before turnip, but a peeled kohlrabi is nearly identical to a peeled turnip in both color and texture. I don’t know why the markets where I shop never carry them – maybe it’s a regional thing.

At any rate, I saw kohlrabi in the produce section yesterday and grabbed one.  I went back through my recipes to figure out how to use it, but then had a burst of inspiration and decided to make a slaw.  The menu already included lamb chops and baked potato, so a nice tart slaw would be a perfect second side.

The preparation couldn’t have been easier.  I cut the kohlrabi in half and peeled it.  Then grated it, and added a grated fuji apple and a medium sized grated carrot.  Made a quick dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, tarragon, and salt and topped with chopped walnuts.

The result was something that looked like a regular slaw (with vinaigrette dressing, not mayonnaise) but had a quite different flavor.  In this setting, the kohlrabi actually tasted more like broccoli than anything else, but it does have it’s own distinct flavor.  The apples add tart notes, the carrots sweet ones, and the dressing binds everything together.  Very nice.

Recipe – Kohlrabi & apple slaw

Ingredients

1 medium kohlrabi, peeled

1 tart apple, peeled

1 medium carrot, peeled

1 tbl extra virgin olive oil

1 tbl lemon juice

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

pinch salt

1/4 cup walnuts

Directions

Cut the kohlrabi in half and save one half for another day.  Grate the remaining half on the largest holes of a box grater. Add the apple and carrot, also grated on the large holes of a box grater.

Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, tarragon, and salt.  Add the dressing to the salad and toss until everything is lightly coated.  The amount of dressing may initially seem insufficient, but a light application helps the flavors of the salad itself come through more effectively.

Toast the walnuts in a skillet until lightly browned, then chop.  Scatter the walnuts over the top of the plated slaw.