Hulk Juice
When you join a CSA, you welcome a season of possibility by receiving vegetables that you’ve never seen before. The sleuth work of identifying dinosaur kale was more fun than figuring out what to do with it; I’m almost certain it’s destined for another smoothie. But kohlrabi presented an even better challenge: how to do well by blending a food I’ve neither eaten nor cooked before. In reading about this cousin of cabbage, I found only one recipe for it in puree form, which sounded pretty good except that it called for mushrooms, which I neither had on hand nor felt like eating. The Harrowsmith
So I puttered and came up with a dish that Dan named hulk juice for its brilliant green color.
According to Urban Dictionary, hulk juice is actually either Hypnotic and Hennessy mixed together, or Jolly Ranchers dissolved in vodka. I’m not much more familiar with those combinations than I am with kohlrabi, but “liquid lunch” in its popular definition is probably not the wisest choice when you’re healing from injuries (fun as it can be). Alas, here is my wholesome version of hulk juice:
- 1 medium kohlrabi, peeled and chopped into cubes
- the leaves from the kohlrabi if they came attached (stems removed), loosely chopped
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- freshly grated parmesan cheese
Bring the chicken broth and garlic to a boil, then add the kohlrabi. Cover and boil for about 5-6 minutes, then add the carrots. Boil together for another 2 minutes or so, then place the kohlrabi leaves on top of the mixture, cover and boil for another minute or so. Uncover and let boil for another minute.
Put about two ladles worth of the mixture, liquid included, in the blender. Add about 2 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Blend on high until the vegetables start to puree. Add another tablespoon or two of the broth, if needed. Blend for several minutes until totally smooth. Kohlrabi is very fibrous (apparently more so, the larger they are) so on top of the leafy greens, this really needs some quality time in the blender.
I opted only to blend as much as I wanted to eat in one sitting, but of course you can blend the entire recipe. Just be sure to up the cheese accordingly, and most importantly, because it’s hot off the stove, blend it in portions to avoid a kohlrabi explosion.
Did I like it? Absolutely — I even had seconds. It’s lovely how the kolhrabi itself is reminiscent of turnip and its leaves of collards (that is, if you like turnip and/or collards). And, well, cheese and garlic…they’re all stars for a reason.
Would someone who eats kohlrabi often like it? I have no idea. I hope so.
Should you run out and see if your local market sells kohlrabi and attempt making this? If you’re looking to experiment, kohlrabi seems to be an underrated vegetable that’s worth trying. But the truth is, you can use all of the baseline ingredients (carrots, garlic, broth) to make a great puree out of almost any vegetable, especially when cheese is the binder. It’s really your call.
