Kohlrabi and Potatoes with Sour Cream and Dill

2 tbsp butter 
3 cups kohlrabi, peeled and cut into rough chunks
2 potatoes cut into rough chunks
1/4 tsp paprika
1 cup vegetable stock
½ cup sour cream or crème fraîche
1 bunch of fresh dill, roughly chopped

Heat the butter in a pan over a medium heat and add the kohlrabi, paprika, potato and a little salt. Stir, lower the heat, cover and leave for 5 minutes or so.
Add the stock, bring to a gentle simmer and cover again. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft enough to cut with a spoon. The stock should have reduced quite a bit by then but don’t worry if it hasn’t.
Raise the heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the soured cream or crème fraîche and remove from the heat. Add salt as needed, then fold in the dill to serve.

Sesame Greens with Garlic Scapes

If you’ve used up your garlic scapes and can’t find more, garlic cloves would work fine. Also, this recipe is meant to use any greens you have around so spinach, kohlrabi greens, and kale can all be added or substituted for other greens.

1 bunch turnip greens
2 turnips or kohlrabi
1 bunch swiss chard
greens from 1 bunch of beets
4 garlic scapes
1/8 cup oil
2 Tbs. sesame oil
2 Tbs. sesame seeds
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1⁄4 tsp cayenne (opt.)

Chop greens, removing stems and chopping finely (they need more time to cook so if you want to use them you just have to start them earlier). Thinly slice turnips and cut scapes into 1 inch pieces.
In a wok or similar skillet, heat oil until hot and toss in turnips, scapes, and any stem pieces. Cook for 5 minutes. Add beet greens and tamari, cover and cook another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cayenne, sesame seeds, swiss chard, and turnip greens and cook until greens are wilted.

Kohlrabi Mashed Potatoes

The addition of kohlrabi adds a nice sweetness to mashed potatoes. 

2-3 lbs potatoes
2-3 kohlrabi, peeled
½ stick butter
salt and pepper to taste

Boil up potatoes and kohlrabi. When soft, pour off liquid and reserve for later.

Add the half stick of butter and enough of the liquid back into the pot to mash into desired consistency. You may want to food process if the kohlrabi doesn’t mash well.Add salt and pepper to taste.

Kohlrabi and Potato Gratin

2 Tbs. butter 
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream
1 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon minced thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 large potatoes (2 pounds), peeled
1 large kohlrabi, peeled

Preheat the oven to 300°. Butter a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. In a skillet, melt the butter and add the thyme and garlic and let simmer a few minutes to release the flavors.  Add the heavy cream and sour cream or crème fraîche and plenty of salt and pepper.

Using a vegetable mandolin (or a knife and a skilled hand), thinly slice the potatoes and kohlrabi, then add to the cream and toss to mix. Spread the potatoes, kohlrabi and cream in an even layer in the prepared baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.

Increase the oven temperature to 325° and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes longer, or until the potatoes are tender and the top is browned. Let the gratin stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Braised Kohlrabi

2-3 bulbs kohlrabi (or most of a giant kohlrabi) 
1 small onion
2 Tbs butter
salt and pepper

Heat butter in a heavy skillet. Chop onion and sauté in butter over medium heat.
Peel kohlrabi to remove fibrous skin. Slice thinly, or grate coarsely.

Add to skillet, stir to coat with butter, and cover. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until kohlrabi is tender, about 15 minutes for slices, less if grated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Roasted Winter Roots

From Sarah Voiland, 2010

When I was in college, I had what someone called a “root bake” for the first time, and it was so good!

The general idea is chop up all kinds of roots into similar sized chunks, coat/toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in the oven at about 400 until all items are soft to the tines of a fork. Stir after about a half hour. Herbs generally do better added part way in to cooking. To steam faster, cover fully with tin foil for a half hour, then remove the foil to allow browning.

Things you can include:
Parsnips, Rutabagas, Beets, Turnips, Daikon, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, Carrots, Herbs, Celeriac, Kohlrabi, and anything else I’m forgetting.

Variations could include adding any of the following: soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds, honey mustard, hot pepper flakes, making a cilantro or tahini dressing to pour over them, serving with ketchup or hot sauce with mayo, and who knows what else.

Kohlrabi and Potato Salad with Horseradish

1 or 2 kohlrabi peeled
2 medium Potatoes
2 to 4 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons chopped dill
Salt and freshly milled pepper
Prepared horseradish in vinegar

Slice the kohlrabi into julienne strips or wedges. Steam until tender, 5 to 8 minutes.
Coarsely cube potatoes and boil until tender. Then put potatoes and kohlrabi in a bowl and toss with sour cream, horseradish, and dill.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Dilly Slaw

4 cups shredded veggies (carrots, Hakurei turnips, radish, kohlrabi) 
5 scallions, chopped

Dressing:
3⁄4 cup yogurt or 1⁄2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs. lime juice
2 Tbs. cider vinegar
1 Tbs. honey
1⁄4 cup dill
1 tsp. salt
3 garlic scapes or cloves of garlic, minced

Blend dressing and toss with veggies. If time, let chill and stir occasionally so the dressing can soak into the veggies.

Kohlrabi Pancakes with Flax Seed

Adaptable to many vegetables, these savory pancakes go great with Cucumber Tzatziki, plain yogurt, or sour cream.

1 pound kohlrabi (peeled)
3 carrots
3 tbsp ground flaxseed (whir whole ones in a blender or processor until ground)
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil for frying (coconut oil is tasty)

Grate the kohlrabi and carrot (a food processor makes it easy). In a large bowl, mix the ground flaxseed, flour and salt. Then mix in the shredded kohlrabi and carrot. With your hands, form smallish patties about 1/2 inch thick. Cook in a frying pan with the oil until each side is golden brown. Add more oil if needed between rounds of pancakes.

I love the way the ground flaxseed holds these together! You could also get them to hold together with egg if you don’t have flaxseed, about 1 egg per tablespoon of flax seed. In the early summer season, you could finely chop kohlrabi greens too, and add those in to this.