Kohlrabi Salad with Ginger-Maple Dressing

The original request for this salad came from ME because she planted two different varieties of kohlrabi in her garden this year. However, I guess we got ahead of ourselves a little when we made it in late April; it wasn't quite kohlrabi season and there was none to be found in any supermarket. We determined we would use a green apple and half a head of red cabbage in place of the kohlrabi and red leaf lettuce, since young kohlrabi is crunchy and tart like a Granny Smith and red cabbage is also crunchy but slightly sweeter than its green cousins (I couldn't find any nice heads of lettuce at the time either).

My one complaint about the original recipe is the perverse use of cup measurements for the vegetables. Honestly, who's measuring their lettuce out in cups? I don't have a big enough measuring cup to hold 3 cups of produce, and even if I did, it seems so much more reasonable to specify produce in weights, "standard" bunches, and/or number of leaves. I don't want to cram my delicate produce into a cup and I'm also lazy, I'd like to just put my bowl on a scale and forge on from there.

Aside from that complaint, I liked everything about this salad. Again, Stephanie called for a couple vinegars I don't normally have in my cupboard (and neither does ME) so we adapted to what was available that was similar and made sense with the rest of the ingredients: white wine vinegar & yuzu rice vinegar in place of the sherry and champagne vinegars.

This is the kind of salad that benefits from partially dressing the heartier greens prior to serving so they have time to absorb some of the dressing and soften a little. In this salad, this guidance applies to the kale, fennel, and kohlrabi. It's alright to include the slivered apple in this pre-serving dressing soak too, but not the delicate lettuce, cheese, berries, or nuts.

It's true this kohlrabi salad is a little unusual and involved; the ginger-maple dressing calls for a few specialty ingredients and there are a lot of components within the "kohlrabi" salad. Prepping the vegetables requires about 30 minutes, not including any pre-serving soak, so this isn't a salad-in-fifteen kind of salad. All those disclaimers in mind, this is a really excellent salad and I highly recommend giving it a try. The flavors are perfectly balanced and addictive; you'll find yourself going back for seconds and maybe thirds.

Kohlrabi season has arrived as we enter the hottest week so far this summer. This salad is a great way to eat seasonally while beating the heat and enjoying a truly satisfying meal.

Slightly adapted from Gather and Graze

Kohlrabi Salad with Ginger-Maple Dressing

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Course: Salad, Side

Cuisine: American, Asian

Keyword: spring salad, stephanie izard

Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• ½ cup sliced almonds

Dressing

• 2 ½ tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 ½ tablespoons minced shallot
• 2 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 ½ tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons white balsamic or champagne vinegar
• 1 ½ tablespoons sherry or rice vinegar
• 1 large egg yolk or 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 ½ to 2 cups grapeseed or canola oil
• kosher salt

Salad

• 1 medium (about 1 ¼ pounds) kohlrabi peeled and very thinly sliced on a mandoline (about 3 cups)
• ½ medium fennel bulb trimmed and thinly sliced on a mandoline (about 1 cup)
• 1 small head Red Oakleaf lettuce torn (about 3 cups)
• 1 small bunch lacinato kale stems and ribs removed, chiffonaded leaves (about 2 cups)
• 2 ounces semi-firm salty cheese such as Evalon goat cheese, Garrotxa, MontAmore's cow's milk, Parmesan, shaved (about ½ cup)
• kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup blueberries* or pitted, halved sweet cherries
• ¼ cup torn mint leaves

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the almonds on a pie plate and toast for about 7 minutes, until golden. Let cool.
• In a mini food processor or blender, combine the ginger, shallot, vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, soy sauce and maple syrup and puree. With the blender on, add the grapeseed oil in a thin stream and blend until creamy. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.
• In a large bowl, toss the kohlrabi with the fennel, cheese, toasted almonds and dressing. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Add the blueberries and mint and toss gently. Serve right away.