Kohlrabi Loses Its Bad Reputation: Kohlrabi and Apple Slaw

I will try anything once, if it is served to me. What I won't do is go out of my way to cook the unfamiliar, unless I have read or heard some compelling reason to do so. Which is why having a CSA is great because it forces me to try things that I might otherwise avoid. Take this weeks haul, which included kohlrabi, my case in point.

I have seen this light green martian-looking bulb with leaves attached, at the supermarket and elsewhere but as far as I was concerned it could just stay there. You see I associated it with a group of very old ladies who lived in my old apartment building on 54th Street. Our floor always had a rather stale cabbage like smell and in my mind, kohlrabi was the offender.

So when kohlrabi showed up last Tuesday I figured it might be destined for the compost heap. After a few members picked up their shares, I then realized that I had to do something with it since everyone was turning to me for kohlrabi advice.

I turned to the internet and discovered that kohlrabi need not be so cabbagey and unpleasant. It could be transformed into a light summer salad, which I might actually enjoy eating.

I found the recipe for Kohlrabi/Apple Slaw here. At the last moment, I decided to grate up a whole batch of it for our July 4th BBQ. I can't say that Izzy was wild about it but I thought it made a decent slaw contribution to our meal. It is definitely light and refreshing. If any more kohlrabi comes my way, I might consider making this again or venturing into the kohlrabi unknown.