Creamy kohlrabi salad with mint and sumac

This week I have been tweeted by Nigel Slater, Mollie Katzen and Esther Walker, and so am feeling like an absolute star.

Here is my version of the kohlrabi salad in Yotam Ottolenghi's wonderful cookbook Jerusalem. I know kohlrabi isn’t particularly summery, but this salad would make an excellent alternative to coleslaw at a barbecue, a picnic, or part of a light but luxurious summer evening meal.

I made this salad for the first time using mint from the mini-allotment in the garden at Moishe House London, after spending a few hours turning soil, digging up weeds and hacking up an out-of-control lovage plant. Covered in dirt, smelling like homemade rotten nettle plant food and with spiders in my hair, this salad was the perfect reward for my rare attempt at manual labour (along with hazelnut vodka, and cheesecake).

Kohlrabies look a little bit like alien baby heads. They are super delicious, tasting a little bit like a

cross between radish, cabbage, and granny smith apple. Kohlrabi is excellent in a salad as it keeps its freshness and ‘crunch’ really well, even after sitting in dressing for a few days. I have reduced the dairy content of the original recipe a lot, so there is just enough creamy-ness for the salad to feel special, but hopefully not enough to induce any food-guilt.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 kohlrabies, peeled and cut into 1.5cm dice

2 soup-spoon-sized blobs of crème fraîche

1 small clove of garlic, crushed

2 spring onions, finely sliced, if you like them

about ½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

lemon juice

5 big mint leaves, shredded

sumac, about 1tsp

some little spinach leaves, or watercress

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix the kohlrabi cubes with the crème fraîche, olive oil, garlic, spring onions if using and mint. Add a squeeze of lemon or two, and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, either mix the salad with your chosen leaves, or pile the salad gently on top of them. Sprinkle the sumac over the top.