Kohlrabi slaw (with grilled mackerel with chermoula)

Looking around for ways to use my giant kohlrabi, I found one recipe that got lyric reviews at both Orangette and The Wednesday Chef. So what choice but to try that? It was quite good indeed, and it worked well with the grilled fish and chermoula we had with it. I’ll have to write about that chermoula some time as well. But I’m afraid that would make me a bit lyrical myself. So for now: kohlrabi slaw. Adapted from Molly Wizenberg and Luisa Weiss, who adapted it from The Farm to Table Cookbook by Ivy Manning, and Fearn Smith of The Farm Café. (PS. Other veg box participants in the meal: potatoes (fried) and a salad of red oak lettuce and spinach.)

one kohlrabi the size of a tennis ball, or a couple smaller ones (any colour – mine was purple!)

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 garlic clove, very finely minced

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

The original recipe(s) julienne the kohlrabi, but I prefer grating, both for the process (julienne without a mandoline… no thanks) and for the result – the slaw mixes with the dressing much better when it is grated. So: grate the kohlrabi. Toast the fennel seeds, pound in a pestle and mortar or grind in a spice grinder, combine with the other ingredients, and mix through the grated kohlrabi.