Kohlrabi, a pleasant crunch

Veggie more favorable than pickled eggs

By Amie Johansen | amie@charlescitypress.com

Feeding fellow reporter Kate Hayden miscellaneous foods she has never encountered has become one of my favorite pastimes. However, since the pickled egg incident, there was a lot of pressure to present Kate with a food she would enjoy.

I should clarify, Kate did not hold a grudge nor was she particularly bitter about the salty egg experience. Her being such a good sport and still willing to try whatever new thing I present to her was all the more reason to give Kate something tasty.

Kate is someone who appreciates food — real food, even bar room snacks with exception of pickled eggs. I was fairly certain a kohlrabi would be well received. Kohlrabis were a favorite in our house growing up. My parents grew them in their garden, cleaned them, sliced them and set them in a dish of water in the fridge. When it came time for lunch, we’d have our ham and cheese sandwich with a side of kohlrabi. This was not a habit unique to my family. “Everyone” ate kohlrabi. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Kate was not apart of “everyone.”

“Never heard of kohlrabi, so I imagined the most generic cucumber veggie thing I could think of,” Kate said. “I didn’t know how to spell it to look it up, so it’s safe to call it unfamiliar territory.”

I did not realize Kate had not only never crunched into a slice of kohlrabi, but she had never seen one. I do feel that I failed her in that regard. Had I known, I would have brought the whole kohlrabi into work for her to muse over. Instead, I cleaned the veggie at home and brought it in a tupperware of water. I opened the tupperware, Kate looked in and said “Oh!”

It was a pleasant “oh,” an “oh” of discovery. Or maybe it was a thankful “oh.” The last time one of my tupperware lids was removed her sinuses were assaulted with vinegar and boiled egg fumes. This time it just revealed unassuming slices of kohlrabi.

True to form, I didn’t give her any warning. Just encouraged her to fish a slice out of the water. Without any hesitation, Kate bit the kohlrabi.

“I really enjoyed the kohlrabi! The texture was a nice crunch,” she said. “It made for a good snack as Amie and I planned our next week, and I felt nicely full –– unlike when I go home and eat endless popcorn or pita chips.”

After she had tried it plain — as is my rule — I offered her a shake of salt. While snacking, she asked what one would do with kohlrabi. Unfortunately, I don’t have an exciting kohlrabi recipe. Eating it as-is is the most common practice. However, there is a kohlrabi-slaw (kohlslaw) recipe I hope to try when more of my kohlrabis grow.

“I would definitely consider buying kohlrabi on my next market trip, but I probably wouldn’t do anything fancy with it,” Kate said. “Eating it raw was a pretty nice treat.”

The plan was to feed Kate a meal of liver and onions as the grand finale for this experiment. Having already eaten rhubarb, radishes, pickled eggs and kohlrabi, the liver was slated to be up next. However, a few readers have given us a few suggestions that fit nicely in our “Feed Kate” specifications.

The rule simply being I have to have eaten it and enjoyed it and Kate has to have never eaten it. The two latest suggestions: gooseberries and sardines. It was also recommended that I give Kate a cooking or baking lesson. So, as soon as the gooseberries become ripe, we’ll make a gooseberry pie. Since they are not quite ready, next week, Kate and I will enjoy a snack of sardines on a saltine. I apologize in advance to my coworkers as sardines can be quite pungent.

Kohlrabi Slaw

Ingredients

4 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and grated

2 cups chopped cabbage

2 stalks celery, sliced thin

2 carrots, sliced thin

2 tablespoons minced fresh onion

Sauce

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 cup mayonnaise

4 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Directions

1. Toss the cabbage, kohlrabi, celery, carrot, and onion together in a large bowl.
2. Whisk the sugar, salt, pepper, celery seed, mayonnaise, and vinegar together in a separate bowl until smooth; pour over the cabbage mixture and stir to coat evenly. Chill in refrigerator 1 hour before serving.

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