How to make Kohlrabi Slaw? (Crisp and Refreshing)

• Food: Kohlrabi Slaw
• Writer: Lizzie Green
• Content-Type: Food Blog

This simple kohlrabi slaw is made with apples, red onions, and toasted hazelnuts. It makes a nice, light side dish for any fall supper.

Make this kohlrabi slaw recipe if there is room on your Thanksgiving menu for one extra dish. It is crisp and cool, the ideal counterpoint to rich holiday fares like stuffing and mashed potatoes.

Additionally, it just requires 10 ingredients and takes about 15 minutes to prepare. In the time it takes to preheat your dinner rolls or sweet potato casserole in the oven, you can cut the vegetables, stir the dressing, and have a delicious meal on the table!

The dish is from my friend Andrea’s brand-new cookbook Local Dirt: Seasonal Recipes for Eating Locally.

In 2018, Andrea set a goal for herself to spend a month eating only food produced within 200 miles of her farm. She describes her experience in Local Dirt.

It is jam-packed with anecdotes, recipes, and advice on how to eat regionally, or as Andrea put it, “discovering and celebrating what we have.”

What could be more appropriate for Thanksgiving? Although the book isn’t vegetarian, it nevertheless offers a variety of delicious vegetarian options.

The chilled beet and yogurt soup, fennel and hazelnut gratin, and traditional apple pie are the items I most want to eat next.

Ingredients for Kohlrabi Slaw Recipe

I understand if you’re wondering, “What the heck is kohlrabi?” Years ago, when it started showing up in my CSA box, I first learned what it was. It belongs to the same family of plants as broccoli and cabbage, the brassicas.

Its crisp texture and mustardy, peppery flavor are reminiscent of turnips. Although you can roast and sauté it, I enjoy it best when it’s raw. This slaw’s crisp, juicy texture is beautifully displayed. You’re going to adore it, I believe!

You only need one kohlrabi, so go ahead and grab one. Then, gather these straightforward ingredients to prepare the slaw:

• A crisp, delicious kind of apple is what you should seek out. A Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apple would also work nicely, but I used a Gala apple and it was great.
• Red onion: It gives the salad a little taste.
• Mustard and apple cider vinegar gives the dressing a wonderful tang.
• Honey: It counteracts the abrasiveness of mustard and vinegar.
• Andrea asks for hazelnut oil, but I used extra-virgin olive oil because that’s what I had on hand. Utilize what you already have or what is around!
• Hazelnuts: They give the dish more crunch and a rich, nutty flavor.
• Additionally, parsley adds a nice fresh finish to the kohlrabi salad.

Trim the kohlrabi leaves, peel the bulb, and cut it into thin planks when you’re ready to cook. The planks should next be cut into matchsticks. While you’re at it, chop the apple and onion into matchstick-sized pieces.

In the bottom of a big basin, whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard, and honey. Toss to coat with the remaining ingredients. Serve the salad with a parsley garnish after seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Variations on Kohlrabi Slaw

Andrea offers suggestions to “Localize It,” or use other ingredients that you might have on hand, for each recipe in the book. Her suggestions for this kohlrabi salad are as follows:

• Change the fruit. Try switching out the apple for a ripe pear. Be warned: you might wish to plan ahead when shopping. Pears are frequently sold unripe and must ripen for a few days before they can be eaten.
• Change your nut. Are hazelnuts absent? No issue. Replace them with almonds, walnuts, or pecans.
• Change the vegetable. Instead of kohlrabi, Andrea suggests substituting finely sliced broccoli stems. How original is that?
• Put some cheese in. This idea was really suggested by me. This salad would be wonderful with some shaved Parmesan or Pecorino, in my opinion! The sweet apples and salty flavor would complement each other well.

Advice for Serving Kohlrabi Salad

This kohlrabi slaw is a terrific meal to keep on hand in the fall because it’s so easy to make. Make it whenever you need a simple side dish to complete a fall meal.

Stuffed acorn squash, creamy mushroom polenta, pumpkin or butternut squash soup, or any of the following pasta dishes would go well with it:

• Pasta with Creamy Butternut Squash
• Homemade Mac & Cheese with Butternut Squash Ravioli
• Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin, Garlic, Herbs, and Mushrooms

The kohlrOlive Oil Cakeabi salad would also be a lovely addition to a Thanksgiving dinner, as I already indicated. Serve it with traditional sides like gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole.

Kohlrabi Slaw

This quick kohlrabi slaw is a tasty side dish for autumn. It is an adaptation of Andrea Bemis’ Local Dirt, done with the publisher’s approval.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or hazelnut oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 large apple, cored and cut into matchsticks
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts
• 1 medium kohlrabi, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley, more for garnish
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix the oil, vinegar, honey, mustard, and salt in the bottom of a big basin.
2. Toss to combine the apple, kohlrabi, onion, hazelnuts, and parsley.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste, add more parsley as a garnish, and then serve.