Cabbage is widely used in Russian cuisine: cabbage soup, hodgepodge and many other dishes can not do without it. But we are talking about the familiar white-headed, although color is gradually becoming popular. But what about a species like kohlrabi? How to cook a vegetable so that it is eaten with pleasure?
About cultivation and varieties
For most Russians, kohlrabi is not the most frequent guest in the diet. This vegetable is so unpopular that you even rarely see it in a store. Outwardly, it resembles a hybrid of ordinary cabbage and turnip. The fact is that the part consumed directly in food is an overgrown stem. To taste, it looks like a stalk of ordinary cabbage, only juicier, softer and sweeter.
Sizes of different varieties, like colors, vary greatly. Yes, and in the garden such a cabbage looks somewhat unusual. Seeing her in the store, you might think that this is a root crop, but in fact - the lower part of the stem, that is, it lies on the ground, which looks pretty strange. Color can range from light green and almost white to raspberry and purple. So, you were interested in kohlrabi: how to cook this vegetable? And what to look for when buying?
Choose the right one
In Russia, this vegetable is not as popular as in Europe, so many housewives simply do not know what to look for in the store, buying kohlrabi, how to cook it in such a way as to extract the maximum benefit and taste from it.
First of all, you need to choose fruits with fresh leaves, if they are not cut. So you can understand how long the vegetable is in the store. Secondly, the kohlrabi should not have external damages and cuts, otherwise it may turn out to be completely damaged. The most important thing is to choose not too large copies weighing up to 150 grams, this will help to avoid buying overripe stems with coarse fibrous pulp, which will simply be impossible to make tasty and tender.
Popular cooking methods
So, choosing a stembled in the store, you need to think about what you can do with it. There are plenty of options: stewed, boiled, fried, baked, raw kohlrabi, as part of various complex dishes - the scope for imagination is almost unlimited. You can invent your own recipes, focusing on the compatibility of the ingredients with ordinary cabbage. The only subtlety: before cooking, kohlrabi must be very thoroughly washed and peeled. It is quite easy to cut and rub, so there should be no technical difficulties. So what can be obtained from kohlrabi?
In salads
One of the most common uses is cold snacks. This raw vegetable goes well with carrots and apples, and you can use sour cream and lemon juice as a sauce. You will get a wonderful fresh salad if you grate it all or cut into small strips. An apple, by the way, can be easily replaced with a cucumber.
For meat lovers there is an option with ham, in this salad, in addition to the protein ingredient, all the same kohlrabi and carrots are used. Dressing - mayonnaise or sour cream, spices to taste.
If we continue the theme of fresh and healthy salads, then another recipe includes bell pepper, onions, pickled cucumber and, of course, the cabbage itself. You can decorate the dish with herbs, and dress with olive oil.
So, it is obvious that kohlrabi fits into salads very organically. She gives them a sweet taste and a pleasant crispy texture. What about hot?
First meal
Kohlrabi soup can also firmly enter the diet, it will appeal to both children and adults. It can have a consistency of mashed potatoes or be presented in a more familiar form - like a broth with vegetables. One of the most popular recipes is with chicken.
For him, you need to take 1 kilogram of meat and cook the broth. After the water boils, you need to remove the foam with a slotted spoon and add carrots and onions. Cook over medium heat for another half hour, then add bay leaf and black pepper with peas. When the broth is ready, it must be filtered and left for further cooking. In a saucepan, heat the vegetable oil and fry the chopped onion in it. When it turns golden, add a little broth, as well as chopped vegetables: a head of kohlrabi and 2 potatoes. After another 5 minutes, pour the remaining broth into the mixture and bring to a boil over high heat. Then add spices to taste. And cook another 10 minutes over medium heat. Then add pieces of chicken and a head of cauliflower, sorted into inflorescences. Cook everything until cooked, it's about 10 minutes. Then pour cream, mix and remove from heat.
Of course, for the first time, making kohlrabi in this way may seem complicated, but in fact it is just another element in the most ordinary recipe.
Second courses
Of course, kohlrabi (how to cook it deliciously, many housewives want to know) is used not only in soups and salads. It’s probably not possible to call her the queen of second courses, but as a side dish she will suit a wide variety of ingredients. It can be completely independent - as a part of vegetable stew, for example, or stewed in sour cream. But there is one almost universal dish that many people like - baked ham with kohlrabi in a creamy sauce. It is worth dwelling in more detail.
For cooking, you need 250 grams of ham, 4 stalks of kohlrabi, 3 eggs, a tablespoon of fat cream, wheat flour, butter, parsley, black pepper, nutmeg and salt.
The cabbage needs to be cleaned and cut into small cubes, then fry for 8-10 minutes in butter over medium heat. Beat egg whites, mix with cream, flour and spices. Dice the ham and preheat the oven to 180 degrees. First, lay in a glass dish part of the cabbage, then the meat sprinkled with parsley, and again kohlrabi. Pour all the sauce and bake for about half an hour until golden brown. Serve immediately.
The recipe, of course, can be slightly modified by adding, for example, cheese and some other spices, but it is successful in this form. This vegetable is good because its sweetness goes well with a large number of products, but at the same time gives some exotic taste to the dishes. Thanks to which you can endlessly come up with ways of how to cook kohlrabi.
In a slow cooker
Modern housewives do their best to simplify their lives, and cooking is no exception. Crock-pots have become a great help for those who do not like to stand at the stove for hours. Slowly but surely this miracle device “masters” all new recipes and ingredients, and kohlrabi is no exception.
Depending on which model is available, you can cook a lot of things: a fine stew with zucchini and broccoli, soups, pies, etc. By the way, the aforementioned kohlrabi in creamy sauce can also be made in a slow cooker.
Of course, many housewives say that dishes prepared in an unconventional way are not so tasty, but in this way you can save a huge amount of time and effort, as well as save a maximum of vitamins, which is especially true when it comes to kohlrabi. How to cook and what to combine this vegetable with, probably, every housewife will decide for herself, starting from the tastes of her family.
For stocks
As with any other vegetable, there is a season for this type of cabbage. Therefore, stocking kohlrabi for the winter, if necessary, is necessary soon after harvest. And if we are talking about a purchased product, then in late summer or early fall.
Harvesting in Russia is very popular, and if this type of cabbage is included in the family diet firmly, it makes sense to make seaming with it. To do this, you need to clean the stembled, cut it into cubes and boil in salted water until soft - about 15 minutes. Then you need to rinse it with cool water, distribute it over the banks, transfer to spices such as black and allspice peas, mustard seeds, bay leaves, onions. If desired, you can add other seasonings. Then you need to pour it all with marinade: for 1 liter of water - 1.5 teaspoons of vinegar 70%, 25 grams of salt and 125 grams of sugar. Naturally, the mixture should be hot and the jars thoroughly sterilized.
Harvesting kohlrabi for the winter is simple and does not take much time, and in the cold season, these stocks will be an excellent source of vitamins and a reminder of the sunny warm summer.
Nutritional Benefits
Like many other vegetables, kohlrabi is a dietary product. Coarse fiber helps improve digestion, and a huge amount of vitamin C gives it the right to compete with lemons. In addition, kohlrabi has healing and anti-inflammatory properties, increases metabolic rate and protects the nervous system.
The beneficial properties of this type of cabbage were known in ancient Greece, where it was used as a medicine, and not just as a food product. Among other things, it contains in its composition such trace elements as potassium, selenium, magnesium, calcium, iron, etc. Also in kohlrabi there are substances that prevent the transformation of carbohydrates into fats, that is, that allow you to maintain a beautiful figure. In addition, it is believed that the use of this vegetable in food is an excellent prevention of cancer.
However, uncontrolled eating of kohlrabi will not be useful to those who suffer from increased acidity of the stomach. Of course, in case of individual intolerance, its use in food is also impossible.
How to replace?
The taste of radish is very similar to kohlrabi. Recipes with photos that use this more familiar vegetable may well be suitable for an exotic type of cabbage. Turnip, too, is somewhat similar to a stembled. However, as has already been said, kohlrabi's closest relative, white cabbage, can, to some extent, remind her very much. But still, in terms of its properties, composition, texture and some other characteristics, this vegetable has no full-fledged analogues. Therefore, at least occasionally, kohlrabi should appear on the table in every family, even as an experiment. Who knows, maybe after that she will firmly become part of her favorite dishes.