Tag Archives: kohlrabi recipes

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads, Vegetarian

Recreating a Restaurant Vegetable – Broccoli with Mornay Sauce

At the beginning of March, my roomie and I went to San Jose to see Celtic Thunder and decided to eat at a restaurant near the theater.  While the cuisine was a little pricier than we had expected, it was fantastic.  One of the dishes we ordered was Broccoli with Mornay Sauce that was just wonderful  So, I decided to recreate this with a low carb Mornay.    Couple this with my joy in finally getting a whole case of kohlrabi that I ordered from my grocery store because no one in Reno has gotten in kohlrabi in over 8 months.  I was in withdrawal!  It’s like taking away my potatoes, only worse, because it’s my substitute for potatoes.  So, my version of the broccoli dish is now Broccoli and Kohlrabi with Mornay Sauce.  You can make it without the kohlrabi by increasing the broccoli, but give it a try with the “cousin” root vegetable.  It is really good.

Broccoli & Kohlrabi with Mornay Sauce

1 cup Broccoli, cut into pieces
1 cup Kohlrabi, 1/4″ cubes
1/2 cup Leeks, sliced
4 cloves Garlic, sliced
2 slices Bacon, fried (optional)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 tablespoon Butter
1 1/2 tablespoon Low Carb Flour
1/2 cup Water
Pinch Pepper
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 oz. Cream Cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Prepare sauce: In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour to form a paste. Remove from heat and stir in cream, water, pepper and nutmeg. Return to heat and stir until the sauce begins to thicken. Add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and stir until it is melted in. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F.)

Steam broccoli, kohlrabi and leeks in a bowl in the microwave or in a steamer until just tender, about 3 to 4 minutes in the microwave. In an oven safe skillet, add a little butter and the chopped garlic and cook until just fragrant. Add the vegetables and cook a couple of minutes, then add the sauce and mix together until completely coated. Break the bacon into pieces and sprinkle over the top of the vegetables, then sprinkle a little more Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the top is just starting to brown. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, then serve.

Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 235.3 Fat: 20.5 g Net Carbs: 5.3 g Protein: 6.6 g

Note:  For vegetarian, omit the Bacon.

 

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Quick Roasted Turnips and Kohlrabi

I may be one of the few people who really finds the taste of turnips to be pretty darn good. As a substitute for potatoes, most people probably wouldn’t think it works too well, but as a really good vegetable with similar taste and a lot fewer carbohydrates, I think it’s a good choice. If you combine it with kohlrabi, it’s even better. You can also use celery root in this roast and it makes a great combination of similar flavors and textures. They roast very well and the seasoning I used is simply a half a packet of Lipton’s Onion Soup mix with Olive Oil.

Roasted Turnips and Kohlrabi

1 1/2 cups Kohlrabi (about 2 medium or 4 small)
1 1/2 cups Turnips (about 2 medium)
1/2 package Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix or any other onion soup mix
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Sugar Substitute

Begin preheating oven to 425 degrees (F.)

Peel the turnips and kohlrabi and cut into about 3/4″ cubes. Bring a pan of water with enough water to cover the vegetables to a boil. Add the vegetables and sugar substitute and boil for about 8 to 10 minutes until the vegetables are just fork tender.

Drain the vegetables well, getting as much water off as possible and spread on a paper towel and blot to remove more. In a roasting pan or cake pan, spread the vegetables into one layer and sprinkle the soup mix over the top. Drizzle the oil over the mix and use a spoon to mix it together well so that all the pieces of vegetables have oil and mix on them. Spread them back to a single layer and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Stir them around mid-way through, flipping them over if needed. Check at 20 minutes to make sure they are fork tender and lightly browned. If not, give them another 5 or 10 minutes until they are done.

Serves 4.

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 49.5 Fat: .2 g Net Carbs: 5.9 g Protein: 1.7 g

Posted on 2/20/2014 4:35 PM

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Celery Root is Gnarly

Photo by DocteurCosmos from Wikipedia

No, really, it is! Just look at it and it’s one gnarly vegetable… not to mention dirty! So, it’s not at its most attractive when you see it in the produce department, but if you look past its bumpy, filthy exterior, inside is a wonderfully creamy, tasty heart of delicate celery taste in a potato-like texture.

One of the absolute benefits of changing to a low carb lifestyle that has practically eliminated potatoes and rice from my diet is that I am finding wonderful substitutes that fill in amazingly well. I have not replaced a baked potato yet, but any other way of cooking it, I have alternatives that are delicious and satisfying. Celery root is one more of them. Also known as celeriac or knob celery, this is a not actually the same celery you buy in long sticks, but a special variety from the same family that is cultivated for the root.

Last night, I loosely adapted a recipe from Epicurious that used potatoes and celery root cooked with Parmesan cheese sauce. The original recipe is here if you want to try it, but the new, improved, low carb version is below made with kohlrabi, celery root and a combination of Irish Cheese and mozzarella.

Layered Kohlrabi, Onion and Celery Root Casserole

1 cup Celeriac, Celery Root, (about 3 to 4 “), peeled and sliced
1 cup Kohlrabi, (about 2 small 2”) sliced
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg, ground,
1/2 cup Onions, raw, sliced
1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder or minced garlic
1.5 oz Dubliner Irish Cheese, cut into pieces
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup Whipping Cream, .
1 tbsp Better Than Bouillion, Chicken, in 3/4 cup water or 3/4 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter small casserole dish. Layer 1/2 of the celery root, then 1/2 of the kohlrabi, then the onion slices. Repeat the celery root and kohlrabi layer. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 3 minutes, Let rest a minute, then microwave another 2 minutes. This gives you a shorter cooking time in the oven.*

Meanwhile, heat cream and bouliion mixed into the water in a small sauce pan. Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and garlic powder. Mix in cheeses and stir until melted. Pour over the vegetables.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until the liquid is slightly absorbed and the top is browned. If vegetables aren’t quite done, cover with foil and cook and additional 10 to 15 minutes. Let rest at room temperature a few minutes before serving.

*If you prefer not to microwave, cover the casserole with aluminum foil and cook for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for 20 to 30 minutes more until vegetables are tender and the top is golden brown.

Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Info: (1 servings)
Calories: 150 Fat: 10.2 g Net Carbs: 6.3 g Protein: 6.7 g

Posted on 4/5/2013

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Irish Style Celery and Kohlrabi

Poor celery… so often relegated to lesser roles in cooking. It’s often teamed with the onion and garlic saute that forms a savory base to other dishes or chopped and added to salads like potato salad or pasta salad or dinner salad, but rarely is it the star of the show. And it is absolutely delicious when cooked with a nice supporting cast of seasonings and a top notch co-star like kohlrabi. I am guilty of overlooking this stand out vegetable myself, even though I know it is tasty, so good for you and low in carbohydrates and calories.

Celery is at its most beneficial raw or steamed for about 10 minutes, but this dish is baked and it is still loaded with good nutrients, that’s how loaded the celery is. Add in the kohlrabi and you’ve boosted the nutrients as well as helped your immune system, digestive tract and other functions of your body. This is a win-win.

A little over a week ago, I finally convinced my roomie to try a low carb diet. She’s gone through the counting calories, exercising like a fiend and generally doing everything her doctor and nutritionist has recommended. Very little success. So the past week, I have been looking at all induction friendly meals. This recipe is one that is works for any phase of the Atkins program and any others that limit the types of food you can eat in the first two to three weeks of the program. And did I mention that it is delicious?

Irish Style Baked Celery with Kohlrabi

This is a great side dish with grilled chicken, pork, beef or seafood. You name it. It plays well with it.

1 head celery, fresh (about 7 stalks)
1 Kohlrabi, medium-sized, peeled and sliced thinly
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic
2 slices bacon
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup water or chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter, cold
1 tablespoons whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Separate celery into stalks, remove leaves (save for soup or stew or in your salad) and trim off strings, wash well and cut into pieces about 3/4-inch thick.

Peel and slice the kohlrabi.* Clean and chop the bell pepper. (Cut open and remove the center core with all the seeds and trim the membranes.)

Dice the onion and garlic. Put 1 tablespoon of butter into a heavy skillet to melt, then add the onion and garlic. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then add the celery, kohlrabi and bell peppers. Cook and stir for another five minutes to get mixed and slightly cooked. Put into an un-greased casserole dish or baking pan.

Chop the bacon and add to the celery mix.

In the sauce pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter, add 1/4 cup water and the chicken bouillon or 1/4 cup chicken stock. Add cream and stir together over low heat. Pour over the celery and mix with a spoon.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until celery is cooked but not mushy.

Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 124.5 Fat: 2.1 g Net Carbs: 5.6 g Protein: 3.6 g

*Tip: To make the kohlrabi easier to peel and also speed up the cooking time a little, put the whole kohlrabi into boiling water for about five minutes. Remove to a bowl of cold water to cool, then it will peel and cut easier. Be sure you cut off any fibrous parts of the kohlrabi. Sometimes it is very thick on the skin.

Posted on 9/30/2013

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Another Potato Substitute – Veggies O’Brien

If you’re anything like me, potatoes were a mainstay of your life. But they become a big starchy vegetable with more carbs than you want in your body when you try to maintain a low carb lifestyle. From the time I started in earnest on this eating plan two years ago, I began looking for acceptable substitutions for potatoes and bread. I’d grown up with them in one form or another at just about every meal. In high school lunch had consisted of french fries and a large hot roll with butter. (They were the least expensive and most filling thing that the school cafeteria offered. Any wonder that I had a weight problem?)

So, I have tried several options to substitute a potato, mostly successful in their own right if not matching the potato taste. Among the choices are cauliflower, turnips, daikon radishes and now kohlrabi. If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know. (Rutabagas and parsnips are higher carb’d than I want to go, but also good options.) I am having a ball tasting all these different flavors prepared like potatoes. My offering today is a combination of the potato substitutes prepared like Potatoes O’Brien. They make a very tasty dish that is very close to the starchy version and yet have their own character, The flavors meld well together and I really am not missing the potato in this.

If your body can use more carbohydrates than mine does, then you can actually add potatoes to the mix and it would still cut out some of the carbs and leave you with a lower carb’d version.

As a bonus, if you add bacon or sausage or ham and cheese to this, you can make it as a nice one dish meal without adding too many carbs.

Home-style Veggies O’Brien

A tasty mix of several root vegetables with cauliflower to make a dish similar to Potatoes O’Brien, without the high carbs! Don’t like daikon? Just sub in more kohlrabi or turnip.  Don’t like turnip or cauliflower? Use just the kohlrabi. It’s very flexible.

1/2 cup Cauliflower, cut into pieces
1/2 cup Kohlrabi,, cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/2 cup Turnips, .5 cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/2 cup Daikon Radish, cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/2 cup Onions, chopped
1/4 cup Sweet Peppers, sliced
1 tablespoon Olive oil or Bacon fat
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt or Garlic Pepper seasoning
3 strips of Bacon, broken into pieces (optional)
1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Put cauliflower, kohlrabi, turnips and daikon in a pot, cover with water, add a pinch of salt and boil for about 15 minutes. Drain. In a skillet, heat olive oil, add onions and peppers and stir fry until tender. Add vegetables and stir together. Cook, stirring often, until veggies are lightly browned. Add seasoning and serve.

Makes about four 1/2 cup servings.

Tip: You can cook up the vegetables ahead of time, drain well and store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for about a week or freeze to store longer. Just pull them out when you’re ready to make your hash browns.
Also, when putting the veggies in the bag, squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can before sealing it, then fold it over to save storage space and help keep the food fresher.

Nutrition Info per 1/2 cup serving (without optional items):
Calories: 24.8 Net Carbs: 3.4 g Protein: 1 g

Substituting all kohlrabi for the vegetables:
Calories: 27.6 Net Carbs: 3.2g Protein: 1.3 g

Adding optional items:
Calories: 112 Net Carbs: 3.4 g Protein: 6.3 g

Posted on  1/23/2013