Spring Rolls With Shredded Kohlrabi

Photo by Andrew Scrivani for the New York Times

Kohlrabi will be in the farm share this week from Glade Road Growing.  You can cook this milder sweeter descendant of wild cabbage in a variety of ways.  When it comes to the bulbs, you can  bake or roast 'em, pickle 'em,  stew 'em (I love them in curries),  saute 'em and braise 'em.  Or don't cook them at all.  This recipe is in the last category, because, hey it's hot come summer. 

The greens and stems, by the way, are also edible.  I'd suggest that you fix them as you would kale or collards.  Or, if they are too tough, after steaming them lightly, puree and add to soups, hot or cold.)

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Serves 4

The inspiration for using kohlrabi in a spring roll was Martha Rose Shulman, but her recipe uses rice sticks, while I prefer mung bean threads.  She uses tofu and I use tempeh. 

Ingredients:


2  ounces mung bean threads
1 package of tempeh, sliced into pieces 1/2 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 small kohlrabi, peeled and cut into matchsticks (make sure to remove fibrous layer just under the skin before shredding)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, cut in julienne
1/4 teaspoon of demerara sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro, plus 16 sprigs
1/2 cup of slivered basil, plus 8 leaves
1/2 cup of chopped mint leaves, plus 16 leaves
8  8 1/2-inch rice flour spring roll wrappers
1 tablespoon of ground, roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon of miso
1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

Directions:

1.  Place the bean threads in a large bowl and cover with boiling water.  Soak for 15 to 20 minutes until the noodles are pliable, then drain and transfer  to another bowl. Using kitchen scissors, cut the noodles into roughly 6-inch lengths. Pat dry. Leave the warm water in the bowl for softening the wrappers.

2.  Blanch carrot in boiling water until softened, about 45 seconds. Drain. Rinse under cold water to stop cooking.

3. Toss the shredded kohlrabi with salt to taste and let sit in a colander placed in the sink for 20 to 30 minutes to drain. Squeeze out excess liquid and toss with the sugar, lime juice carrot, ginger, chopped cilantro, slivered basil and chopped mint leaves. Let stand 5 minutes.  Drain the pickled vegetables, reserving the marinade.

4.  One at a time, place a rice flour wrapper in the bowl of warm water until just softened. Remove from the water and drain briefly on a kitchen towel. Place the softened wrapper on your work surface and put a line of tempeh slices in the middle of the wrapper, slightly nearer the edge closest to you, leaving a 1 1/2-inch margin on the sides. Place a small handful of noodles over the tempeh, then place a handful of the shredded vegetable mixture over the noodles. Lay a couple of sprigs of cilantro and a Thai basil leaf and a couple of mint leaves on top. Fold the sides of the wrapper over the filling, then roll up tightly. Arrange on a plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.

5. Cover rolls with damp paper towels and then plastic wrap.

6.  To make dipping sauce, whisk together peanuts, sesame oil, miso and pepper flakes and thin, as desired, with the marinade.  Refrigerate.

Serve within four hours.

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Some past recipes for kohlrabi:
Roasted Veggie, Chickpea and Collard Salad with Tahini Dressing Kohlrabi Home Fries
Kohlrabi Fritters with Tzatziki (Greek Cumber Yogurt Dill Sauce)Kohlrabi Apple Carrot Slaw

Roasted Veggie, Chickpea and Collard Salad with Tahini Dressing

Photo accompanied Rachel Schwartzman's recipe at  Lillian Zhao's site, Further Food.


The July 19 farm share from Glade Road Growing will include potatoes, onion, kohlrabi, beets and collards.  Here's a roasted salad inspired by Rachel Scwartzman's recipe (she had sweet potatoes, beets and collards to work with.)

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Serves 4

Ingredients:

Salad:
1 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 bay leaves
potatoes, washed and cut into quarters or eights, depending on size
beets, washed and quartered
kohlrabi, washed and cut into eights
1 onion, washed, peeled and cut into eights
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
collard greens, washed and  coarsely chopped

Dressing:
1/3 cup sesame raw sesame seeds
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup water

1 large garlic clove
1 tablespoon of orange  juice concentrate
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoon of cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon miso paste

Instructions:

1.  The night before, cook 1 cup dry chickpeas,  in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid, cover with 2 cups water, and and bring to a boil.  Rinse.  Return to pot, add ½ teaspoon sea salt and 2 bay leaves and bring again to a boil again.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let stand over night or for at least one hour. Rinse a second time two cups of water and bring to a boil again and simmer on low heat until soft, about 1 hour.

2..  Prep  potatoes, beets, onion and kohlrabi.  Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper to coat.  Roast in 425 degree F oven for 15 minutes. 

3.  While the vegetables are roasting, chop collards.   Remove vegetables from oven, and when cool enough, peel beets and kohlrabi, discarding peel.  Toss in chopped collards and return to oven to finish roasting, 10 minutes more.

4.  While the vegetables cook, to make dressing,  toast sesame seeds in a hot, lightly oiled cast iron skillet, until they just begin to pop.  Reserving 1 TB for garnish, combine the remaining roasted seeds with  water, garlic, orange juice, cumin and cilantro in blender and process until smooth.

 3.  Toss vegetables and chickpeas in dressing and refrigerate.  Serve chilled garnished with roasted sesame seeds and cilantro. (In the winter, you may want to serve this as a hot dish.)



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As a bonus, here's Emily Horton's recipe for a raw (or lightly blanched) collard salad with potatoes and chickpeas  (photo by Deb Lindsey for the Washington Post.)

Kohlrabi Home Fries

Photo by Andrew Scrivani, the food stylist for The New York Times accompanied Martha Rose Shulman's 3/7/2012 recipe, which was posted as part of her Recipes for Health column.

The expected Glade Road Growing farmshare for the week of June 23 will include beets, collards, summer squash, scallions, and kohlrabi.

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If there's not enough kohlrabi to suit your taste, you can augment the serving by making home fries from the (unpeeled) summer squash and, of course, potatoes and sweet potatoes.


1.  Peel the kohlrabi  thoroughly including the thick, hard fibrous layer under the surface, which will not soften when cooked.  If greens are included, they're edible, so reserve and cook like any other kind of turnip greens. Cut kohlrabi into thick sticks, about 1/3 to 1/2 inch wide and about 2 inches long. If you want to can store the kohlrabi sticks in the refrigerator for several hours.

2.   Place 1 tablespoon of whole wheat, chickpea or rice flour in a large bowl, season with salt if desired and quickly toss the kohlrabi sticks in the flour so that they are lightly coated.

3.  Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil (or more if needed) over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet (cast iron is good).  When the oil is rippling, carefully add the kohlrabi to the pan in batches so that the pan isn't crowded. Cook on one side until browned, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then, using tongs, turn the pieces over to brown on the other side for another 2 to 3 minutes. The procedure should take only about 5 minutes if there is enough oil in the pan.

4.  Drain on paper towels, then sprinkle right away with the seasoning of your choice such as chili powder, ground cumin, curry powder or paprika. Serve hot.





Here are some previous recipes for kohlrabi:
Kohlrabi Apple Carrot Slaw
Kohlrabi Fritters with Tzatziki (Greek Cumber Yogurt Dill Sauce)

Kohlrabi Fritters with Tzatziki (Greek Cumber Yogurt Dill Sauce)

Photo from Blooming Glen Farm in Pennsylvania

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The July 1 farm share from Glade Road Growing is expected to include kohlrabi, cabbage, summer squash, cucumbers, onion, and dill.

There's more information on the cabbage relative and a recipe for an apple and kohlrabi slaw at my post from last year.  This week I I thought I'd provide a recipe that combines it with the cucumbers, oninion and dill.  You can also eat kohlrabi raw, in soup, roasted, steamed or spicy in Indian recipes.

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I'm not sure how many kohlrabi bulbs will be in the farm share.  While this fritter recipe calls for four, you can make up the difference by using the summer squash. Or if you'd like to use the squash for another recipe, you can use potatoes (and omit the oats or brown rice.) The kohlrabi greens, if they are included, will be edible. The greens, too, are edible. Take the smaller, newer leaves, trim them and cook as you would beet greens, until they are tender.

Serves 4 - 6

Start by making the Tzatziki sauce and put in the refrigerator to thicken.  You will only use a portion for this recipe and can use the rest as a salad dressing or dip during the rest of the week.

1.  Peel 4 kohlrabi bulbs and shred (or mix shredded kohlrabi and unpeeled shredded summer squash or potatoes to make 2 - 3 cups).  Place in colander and squeeze out excess moisture.

2.  In a bowl, combine:

2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup cooked oat groats or brown rice
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3. Add kohlrabi or kohlrabi-squash mixture by the spoonful and mix until coated.

4.  Form fritter mixture into two inch balls and lightly coat with whole wheat flour.

5.  Heat lightly oiled cast iron skillet until a bead of water evaporates.  Drop into skillet. Press gently with spatula to flatten. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.


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Want a good recipe for the cabbage?  You can shred it and make it into a slaw using the recipe I've linked to or here's a recipe for my favorite cabbage borscht.

Kohlrabi Apple Carrot Slaw

Photo by Matthew Holloway from JR Organics (twitter).


October 15's farm share from Glade Road Growing  is slated to include spinach, carrots, celery and kohlrabi.

The word "kohlrabi" is German for "cabbage turnip." While in the mustard family--as are are turnips--these veggies are more closely related to  cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, and Brussels sprouts. All of the latter originate from the same species of wild cabbage.  In kohlrabi, selective breeding has emphasized the swollen portion of the stem.  You can read more information about its origins here.

Photo of white kohlrabi by Elise Bauer (twitter) on her blog post at Simply Recipes.  There is also a purple variety.

Kohlrabi can be cooked and are often used in Indian cuisine. The leaves can be sauteed or steamed like other greens.  I like them raw, peeled, sliced and added to a salad.  Prepared that way, they taste  a bit sharp and peppery with texture like jicama.

Here's a recipe for a slaw.  If you'd like to make it into a main dish, I suggest serving on a bed of a mixture of 3 cups of cooked hulled barley or wheat berries and 3 cups of cooked black beans.

Serves 6


Peel the hard skin from 2 - 3 kohlrabi.  Cut into thin slices and then into matchsticks.  Cut 1/2 # unpeeled carrots and 2 tart unpeeled apples the same. In a large bowl toss with 1 tablespoon lime juice to preserve color of apples and kohlrabi. 

Photo from Quinne Davey's (twitter) blog post.

Mince 1 small onion and 2 stalks of celery.  Place in a quart jar and combine with the other ingredients for dressing, cover with tight lid and shake to mix well:


3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoons apple juice concentrate
1 tablespoon dry mustard
freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

Toss dressing with veggies and apples to coat.  Serve, if desired over, grain and bean mixture.  Garnish with 3 TB of chopped fresh cilantro, parsley or chives, as well as a sprinkle of poppy, celery and toasted sesame seeds.