Kohlrabi & Cabbage Slaw
The inspiration for this meal was easy. I was overtired, hot and hunched over weeding hundreds of kohlrabi plants. I find that when I’m the most miserable at the farm I come up with the best recipes. It’s crazy, but I’m pretty sure 75 precent of the recipes on this blog were born out of heat exhaustion and delirium. Go figure!
If you aren’t familiar with kohlrabi it’s a member of the brassica family. It has a mild broccoli flavor with the consistency of an apple (in my opinion). It tastes great raw as well as cooked. The greens are edible too but they take a while to sauté. Since I wasn’t in a cooking mood I saved the greens so we could toss them into an egg scrambled for later. This salad was definitely a highlight to our afternoon after the temperatures almost reached 100 degrees at Tumbleweed Farm.
A few people have asked if we take afternoons off when the heat is too much to handle. The answer is no. Unfortunately, this time of the year the farm is extremely demanding and we cannot afford to neglect Tumbleweed during the heat of the day. Moving irrigation around has become a part time job. And when we aren’t doing that we are busy keeping up with our seeding schedule and daily chores.
With all of that being said, we are really good about taking evenings off to relax and eat dinner together. I usually come in an hour and a half before Taylor so I can prep dinner and photograph it (if it’s something I want to share on the blog). Winding down for the day is really a sacred time and we have a special routine that includes an ice cold beer, sitting down and doing absolutely nothing for at least an hour. We always have to go back out to the fields before bedtime so we can put the chickens in, close the greenhouses, and turn off irrigation. It’s not bad though. Once the sun starts setting our spirits are high again. There is nothing better than knowing we get to go to bed and start from scratch the next day. I’m sure you all can relate. A new day is always full of promise!
This salad highlights some of my favorite flavor combinations and is a super light and refreshing side dish. If you are in need of a go-to salad to bring to a dinner party this summer I think this is going to be it! Kohlrabi can be found at most farmers markets and grocery stores. If for some reason you cannot find it you can sub broccoli stems (just julienne the stems and toss them with the cabbage). I hope you all enjoy this salad as much as we do. Pour an ice cold beer and dig in!
Kohlrabi & Cabbage Slaw with Tahini-Lemon Dressing
Prep Time: 15 mins. Cook Time: 0 mins. Serves: 4
- 1 medium sized kohlrabi, stems and greens removed
- 1/2 a head of green cabbage
- 1 large bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 small ripe avocado, diced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2-3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- a small handful of very finely minced parsley
- 3 Tablespoons water + more to thin if necessary
- pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
- Prepare the dressing by combining all the ingredients and blending with an immersion blender or regular blender until smooth. If the dressing is too thick add a splash of water. If the dressing is too thin add a little more tahini. Taste test and adjust seasonings as necessary.
- With a mandoline or a sharp knife slice the kohlrabi into thin rounds. Then stack the rounds and slice into thin matchsticks. Cut the cabbage into 1/4-inch-thick strips
- Place the kohlrabi and cabbage in a large salad bowl. Add parsley, raisins, avocado, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Drizzle in the dressing and toss until well combined.
Notes
*use this recipe as a guide *adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary *always taste test as you go
This looks amazing! Anything that has lemon and I’m all over it.
That looks delicious! Love the use of kohlrabi, i need recipes to use mine up from the garden. 🙂
I hope you give this a whirl!
It’s so nice to hear that in spite of how busy you are you still keep your evening and dinner time routine sacred. And I love that you’re using the underrated kohlrabi. This slaw has everything, it’s fresh and light, crunchy and creamy!
I’m on a kohlrabi kick at the moment! I hope you enjoy this salad as much as we do!
Wow, thanks for solving the mystery of the unknown food in my farm basket AND providing me with a recipe to eat it!
haha! you’re welcome!
The thought of bending over for that long + the heat makes me want to cry!! I wish I could invent some device that wheels you through the crops so that you can sit down as you work.
Thank you for sparing the energy to give us another recipe! I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never tried kohlrabi but now that I have an idea of what it tastes like, it sounds really good! I’ll have to add it to my to-make list.
I hope today is a little cooler for you guys!
Thanks girl! And if you invent that amazing sounding device that keeps us upright let me know!!!
I love Kohlrabi, it’s one of my favourite vegetables and very common in Germany. I prefer to eat it raw (and almost every day during the season) and was wondering wether you would create a recipe with Kohlrabi – and here it is! Can you read our thoughts?! Maybe the heat exhaustion and delirium make you telepathic? 🙂
Can’t wait to try it out, thanks a lot for the recipe!!
Hmmm I don’t know that I’ve ever had kohlrabi! Sounds like I have to add it to the list 🙂 And if you put tahini on it, I’m happy! I hope you get to the point in your farming career where you have time for a siesta. Til then, enjoy your evening beer!
We got some purple kohlrabi in our CSA, just in time to see this recipe. I already had purple cabbage and parsley on hand so this was my inspiration for lunch today. I added walnuts, mostly because they were already on the counter. I had to come back & comment because I am astounded how quick and absolutely delicious this combination is! I can already tell this dressing is going to be one of my go-to recipes. Thank you for the inspiration!
yay! I’m so happy you loved it too!