Crunchy salad of raw kohlrabi and green apple matchsticks with a lemon dressing and toasted sunflower seeds. Topped with kohlrabi microgreens, ready in 15 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
- 400 g - kohlrabi (2 small bulbs)
- 1 - green apple, such as Granny Smith (150 g)
- 2 tbsp - lemon juice
- 2 tbsp - olive oil
- 1 tsp - honey
- salt, black pepper
- 30 g - hulled sunflower seeds
- 20 g - kohlrabi microgreens
STEPS
- Toast the sunflower seeds in a dry skillet for 3-4 minutes, until golden, and let cool.
- Whisk the lemon juice, oil, honey, salt, and pepper with a fork.
- Quarter and core the apple, cut it into matchsticks, and toss right away with a spoonful of the dressing.
- Peel the kohlrabi with a knife, taking off the skin and the fibrous layer under it, and cut into 1/8 in (3-4 mm) matchsticks.
- Toss the kohlrabi and apple with the rest of the dressing, taste, and add salt.
- Pile onto a plate, sprinkle with the seeds, and top with the kohlrabi microgreens.
Kohlrabi Microgreens in Kohlrabi Salad
Kohlrabi is cheap in the fall, and it tastes better raw than cooked: crisp, juicy, and slightly sweet, like the core of a cabbage without the cabbage bite. With green apple and a lemon dressing it makes a fresh salad in 15 minutes.
Kohlrabi microgreens taste like the heart of a young kohlrabi bulb: juicy and slightly sweet. In the salad they echo the main vegetable in a gentler way and add green where it’s missing, since kohlrabi is white inside. The purple stems stand out against the pale matchsticks.
About the Ingredients
Kohlrabi microgreens: 20 g for four servings. Cabbage or broccoli microgreens work as a swap.
Kohlrabi: young, fist-sized, and heavy for its size. Large bulbs can be woody.
Apple: tart and green, like Granny Smith. Sweet apples make the salad bland.
Sunflower seeds: toasted, for crunch. Pepitas work too.
Technique: Peel Thick, Cut Thin
Kohlrabi skin is tough, with a fibrous layer under it. Peel it with a knife, taking off 1/8 in (2-3 mm), until you see even, juicy flesh. Cut the kohlrabi and apple into 1/8 in (3-4 mm) matchsticks with a knife or a julienne peeler. Toss the apple with lemon juice right away, or it browns while you cut the kohlrabi.
Variations
- With carrot: one julienned carrot adds color and sweetness.
- Creamy: 3 tbsp sour cream instead of oil.
- With sesame: a dressing of rice vinegar, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil.
- With radish: a handful of thinly sliced radishes.
Serving and Storage
Serve with meat or fish, or as a light supper with an egg. Once dressed, the salad is best eaten right away: within an hour the kohlrabi releases its juice. Cut kohlrabi without dressing keeps in the fridge for a day in a sealed container. Whether to wash microgreens before serving is covered in our wiki: should you wash microgreens.
Another crunchy cabbage-family salad: red cabbage coleslaw with red cabbage microgreens.
CHEF'S TIPS
Taste the kohlrabi before cutting it: if it's bitter or stringy, use another one, because no dressing will save it.
Dress the salad right before serving. Within an hour the kohlrabi gives off juice and loses its crunch.
