Kohlrabi is my new I’ve-never-tried-this-before vegetable for my garden this year. I have never knowingly eaten kohlrabi before and I’m not entirely sure what to do with this.
I’m looking for ideas that are simple. Stuff I can make and hold in the fridge for a few days would be fantastic.
I’m told you can shred it like cabbage to make a sort of coleslaw. Has anyone tried that? How did it work out? How about adding it to salad greens? Any other cold prep ideas? I’m trying to keep vegee prepped dishes on hand so we snack on that instead of junk.
Stir frying? I do a lot of stir frying in general, any ideas for kohlrabi?
Any other ideas?
I’ve added shredded kholrabi to slaw before. It worked well. (raw turnip is good for that too.) I like it peeled and cut into strips or sticks for eating raw, with or without a dip like hummus or ranch dressing. I think it would be great in a stir fry, as it would be similar to broccoli stalks or turnips.
Marcella Hazan in More Classic Italian Cooking makes a kohlrabi and rice soup. Other vegetables in this recipe are onion, garlic, carrot, and potato. In her version you make a vegetable soup and cook the rice pilaf style then mix them together at the end along with more broth.
Not to say you couldn’t wing it and just dump the rice in with the vegetables. Oh, and some grated parmesan cheese on top. I usually just use asiago because it’s way cheaper.
Also, because it may not be obvious, kohlrabi should be peeled.
Cub Mistress has hit the ways I’ve used kohlrabi: thinly sliced in stir fry and shredded with cabbage in cole slaw. Either way is delicious.
Tastewise, Kholrabi tastes like the stalk part of broccoli. It’s good to eat raw, if you like raw veggies. I’ve shredded it for slaw (similar to broccoli slaw). I’ve tossed it into soups as well as a background vegetable, like chicken soup or stew. I usually have a “Giardiniera” jar of spices and vinegar in the fridge to toss any sort of excess veggies in, Kohlrabi does well and remains crunchy after pickling.
Just remember you do have to peel it, I was confused on that front at first. The skin is thin but quite tough.
Stuffed with rice and meat (like a bell pepper), cooked diced in a cream sauce, or as a creamed soup I like it. They’re traditional Hungarian/Central European preparations.
Stuffed Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi soup
And the creamed kohlrabi I can’t find a good English recipe for, but it’s basically kohlrabi cut into 1 cm dice, cooked in butter, flour, and milk, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and parsley (or dill). You can also cook meatballs along with them in the sauce (or take the stuffing recipe from the first recipe linked to, form meatballs, and cook it in the sauce instead of stuffing in the kohlrabi.)
Since they’re so potato-like, the first time I ended up with one I made kohlrabi fries with some sort of coating (parm cheese I believe). There are a lot of recipes, you’d have to Google.
I go to foodgawker.com any time i find an ingredient and want suggestions as to what to do with it.
Everyone knows that you don’t eat kohlrabi; they are actually organic baseballs!
Be sure to get kohlrabi that is young and tender…if it gets larger than about baseball size it gets tough & stringy.
Peel, slice, boil or steam 'til tender, drain, toss with bacon bits and a little bacon grease to coat lightly, season to taste. Quick, easy and tasty.
SS
Just to update - it looks like the kohlrabi in the garden are just about done, so when I try them maybe I’ll let ya’ll know how it worked out.
Tried a kohlrabit raw. Hmm… turnipy and radishy, but mild.
I’m thinking that when I do beef and broccoli this week I’ll do beef-broccoli-kohlrabi.
Also - cooked the greens in my random-greens-&-chickpeas+chicken stirfry, along with spinach and bok choy. Pretty good.
I like them fresh, just peel and slice about 1/4 inch thick, you can snack on them plain or dip in salad dressing or chip dip. I agree with not letting them grow too big as they will get pithy.