Crunchy and Refreshing Kohlrabi Salad [and giving the Whole30 another go]
In case you missed the official announcement on my Facebook page, I recently committed to doing a Whole30® again, starting today.
I feel I need to get those hormones of mine back on track: for some reason, I’ve been craving nut butter uncontrollably, and I do mean uncontrollably, for the past 3-4 weeks or so, especially after dinner.
So, since I can’t seem to exert any form or control over that “addiction” of mine, I decided that, in addition to the standard rules of the Whole30® program, I would have to establish a NO NUT policy for myself.
Now THAT will be tough.
As well, there shall be no food whatsoever after dinner, period. The last bite off my dinner plate shall be my last bite of food for the day.
End of story. No exceptions.
And no, brain. This is non-negotiable. And yes, you can do this. It’s only 30 days after all! (at least, that’s what I want it to believe, so shhhhht, people, not a word on how sometimes, a Whole30® will change certain things permanently for ya…)
Now can you think of a better way to kick off a Whole30® than with this gorgeous salad?
Of course, you will have guessed that I made it PRIOR to starting this challenge, for this fabulous salad has nuts in it and I am not to have any for the next 30 days. YOU however, can have some (you lucky human beings, you).
But hey, those could very easily be left out, you know. If you wanted to, that is. But you don’t, right? Because they do do a lot for this salad. I swear. It’s not just my addiction talking.
Although I chose to call this one a Crispy and Refreshing Kohlrabi Salad, it contains WAY, WAY more than just kohlrabi. In fact, this salad is an overabundance of all sorts of crispy and fresh vegetables. It’s got cucumber in it, it’s got chayote in it, it’s got daikon radish as well as green and red apples . Oh, and broccoli florets, too!
A bunch of fresh herbs, a squirt of white balsamic vinegar, a handful of pecans and a few raisins put the finishing touch on this flavorful and “textureful” experience. (hey, this one should definitely be a real word, alright? It sounds perfectly legit to me!)
Seriously, every single component of this salad is crispier than the next. And all the flavors seem to go so well together, too. Not too sweet, not too tangy, not too spicy nor too salty. Every single ingredient sort of leads the way to the next. It all just flows in your mouth.
And that makes for a timeless salad. That’s right. Timeless.
This salad can indeed be enjoyed any time of the day, with just about anything. It works perfectly well with scrambled eggs in the morning, teams up with grilled chicken like no other for a delicious lunch or dinner, and blends really well with canned tuna, too!
Oh, and did I mention pork? It sure was delicious alongside some tangy ginger coleslaw, creamy avocado and a few slices of leftover Pineapple Braised Pork Roast.
If you’ve never had Kohlrabi, you should definitely give it a try next time you come across it.
I find it tastes a lot like broccoli stems. Only better. So if like me, you happen to be a fan of broccoli stems, you’ll go nuts for kohlrabi.
And there I go with the nuts again…
It’s gonna be a loooooong month!
Wish me luck, guys!
Crunchy and Refreshing Kohlrabi Salad
Ingredients
- 2 medium kohlrabi, 200g each, peeled and diced
- 2 chayotes, diced
- 1 red delicious apple, peel on, diced
- 1 granny smith apple, peel on, diced
- 250 g daikon radish, diced
- 200 g broccoli, florets only, chopped
- ¼ cup chives, finely chopped
- ¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon thyme, finely chopped
- ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- ¼ cup raisins
- ½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix with a large spoon until well combined.
- You can serve the salad immediately or leave it in the fridge for a few hours to allow flavors to develop.
- This salad will keep very well and remain crunchy for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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15 Comments on “Crunchy and Refreshing Kohlrabi Salad [and giving the Whole30 another go]”
Look at those lovely purple flowers complementing your beautiful, crunchy salad. Are they alliums? Nighttime eating seems to be my biggest challenge too — it’s just so darn tempting to eat after dinner like the rest of the world 😉 but I notice a huge difference in my own cravings and frankly my peace of mind when I stop that cycle. (I’m not all restless and marching back and forth to the fridge every minute wondering what to eat… you know?). I think I will adopt textureful full-fledged into my vocabulary :).
The flowers are chive flowers, Kelly. So on top of being pretty, they are entirely edible. I absolutely love adding them to my food and really wish they lasted the entire summer. And thank you so much for this. I’m so relieved to know that I am not the only one obsessing over eating something, anything, after dinner. Sometimes I have a hard time focusing on my blog posts (I tend to write at night, after dinner) because all I can think about is food. I hate that. Have to get rid of that stupid demon once and for all!
And seriously. Textureful SHOULD be in the dictionary. I think I oughta write someone a letter and have them add it! 😉
Wow, that is a gorgeous bowl of salad. I’ve been sauteing chayotes lately but have never tried it raw. Interesting.
Funny… I’ve never tried it cooked! I think we need to switch. I do the cooked thing and you do the raw, how’s that? 😉
Kohlrabi, something I have yet to try. The salad looks great!
TENDER!!!! That’s too funny! I was just thinking about you and wondering what you’d been up to! Off to pay you a little visit… 🙂
This is amazing! I love it:)
I love kohlrabi. I just bought some for a salad I had in mind…but now I want to make this one instead 🙂 I did a nut-free whole30 in January for the exact same reason. I have no control over my nut butter consumption and I eat way too many nuts in general. Doing a whole30 again at the moment (also started July 1)but not nut free, just nut reduced. I have some almond butter around but no bags of nuts waiting to be gobbled by the handful. Beautiful pictures (as usual) and again I am left feeling very inadequate in my photo and blogging skills.
Inadequate!??!? What are you talking about, Lisa? Your pictures never fail to make me hungry and your blogging skills need no improvement whatsoever, as far as I’m concerned! I really envy you for being able to do a “reduced” nut Whole30. I don’t think I could ever do “reduced” anything. I’m more like the “black and white” type of person. With me, it’s all or nothing. Especially with nut butters. They definitely are what’s called “foods with no breaks” for me. I can’t have just one spoonful. I’ll irremediably go for a second and a third… I go through jars of the stuff every week, one spoonful at a time. And of course, on top of that, I’ll also munch on nuts. So the pounds creep up. If I can’t get this under control, I might have to give up on my precious nuts until I learn to consume them in moderation. Hopefully, this Whole30 will help with that. When I’m done, I will reintroduce them SLOWLY. I’d hate to lose this precious source of yummy, healthy fat!
So tell me, how’s your Whole30 going so far?
Well, the only way I can do it with reduced nuts is to pretty much not have any nuts around. If they were here, I would eat them. It’s going fine so far, but I am craving sweet stuff after dinner. Helps that there are really nice berries around at the moment. It’s also hard to leave honey out of marinades and sauces. I also have to stay away from pinterest at the moment because it just makes me want dessert. I’ll be trolling your site for some whole30 meal inspiration 🙂
LOL, funny you should mention Pinterest… I was on it yesterday evening, happily pinning away… until at some point I realized that I was mostly re-pinning pictures of cakes and cupcakes. So I stepped away from the computer! 😉
Well… you’ve done it… I have just signed up for my first whole30… 🙂 Starting next monday as I have some proper reading to do on what to eat, what not to eat etc. Since I am eating nuts…. (haha..sorry about that) I think I can actually eat your salad right? I will probably be coming here a lot for inspiration as I need some serious motivation I am sure…! But excited too! Clearing out the pantry first….
Oh my, really? I couldn’t be happier, Simone! Congratulations on taking what could very well turn out to be the greatest and bestest challenge of your life. I strongly recommend that you read It Starts with Food in addition to all the information that is on the Whole9 website. It will give you a clear understanding as to why you are removing certain foods from your diet, and it might help you decide whether or not you want to reintroduce said foods after you’re done.
I chose to reintroduce none.
Of course, I’ll be here to inspire and motivate! Just make sure to visit often!
And yes, you can eat that salad, you lucky girl you! 🙂
Yes, I ordered the book today as well. It will probably arrive after I start but that is ok. I can already start planning with the stuff that I have now (and your awesome recipes to help me out too!) It’s gonna be a little bit tricky as Tom is not gonna be doing the same… But I’ll manage somehow!
AWESOME!!! You have no idea just how excited I am about the fact that you, someone I care dearly about, decided to give the Whole30 a go AND read the book too! I really, truly hope that you will get out of this experience as enlightened and enthusiastic as I have. It’s not always going to be easy, there will be times when you’ll just want to give it all up, but trust me, it’s very well worth it in the end. Just stick with it and tell yourself that this is “only for 30 days”. You need to convince your brain that it can do this. One day at a time.
Just please, while you are IN it and your hormones are going a little wacko, try not to curse me too much! 😉