That space aged vegetable comes back: curried kohlrabi, red lentil and grain salad

Now, last year, ragazzi, Annalena attempted to introduce you to the kohlrabi.  From wh at she could tell, you were unenthused.

Ok, she could not find a picture of a kohlrabi with a cat; however, she did find one with a very cute, or handsome man, attached to it:
 



http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/dymond_dani/


Now, do you think you might be interested?   He's cute, isn't he?  Yes, kohlrabi is not something you see every day, but for heaven's sake, do some exploring (Annalena had to, to find her recipe as well as this lovely young man), and you will learn something new, and enjoy yourself in so doing.

Someone once described kohlrabi as tasting somewhat like broccoli stems.  Annalena does not agree, but she can see where that might come from.  If you like broccoli stems, you will be overjoyed, for you may be saying "well, I dunno about that kohlrabi, but I cant figure out what to do with those broccoli stems."

Ok, admittedly, NONE of you are doing that, or thinking that.  But try it.  I mean, the stuff is GOOD.  Let's get to work.

When you get the kohlrabi, as you'll see from our model, it has long stems, leaves, and a bulb.  You may find yourself with LOTS of leaves.  Cut them away and then cut them into thin pieces.  Then, peel the skin off of the kohlrabi bulbs, and cube the remaining vegetable into small pieces (you would be peeling broccoli stems too.  And you'd probably have broccoli leaves as well).  Put the bulb portion aside a minute:  we're going to eat that raw.    But put the leaves, and from 12 ounces to a pound  of red lentils into a pot of boiling salted water, and cook for  6-10 minutes.  Start testing the lentils at six minutes.  These fall apart into a puree pretty readily, so you have to watch them.  You want them to just be on the soft side, but to still hold their shape.  Drain everything.   Rinse it with cold water, and then spread everything out after draining it, on a baking sheet, to dry off a bit.

Let's cook some grains.  You can use couscous, but if you want to amp this up a bit, use one of the higher power grains, like amaranth or quinoa.  You could use brown rice, too, or whole wheat couscous , if you could find it.  Get a cup of the dry stuff, and  follow the instructions for cooking it, EXCEPT.... let's go to the dressing.

You are going to make a curry dressing.  Yup, you are.  You need half a cup of white wine, or cider vinegar. Whisk a tablespoon and a half (sounds like a lot, but it's not), of SWEET curry powder.  SWEET here means simply that it is not spicy.  You can find it in a good spice store.  Then, whisk in 2/3 of a cup of extra virgin olive oil.  Taste it, and adjust for salt and pepper.  Put three tablespoons of this in with the dried grain, and the water, when you cook it.

Couscous cooks instantly, amaranth and quinoa take about twenty minutes, and whole brown rice, about 45.  Whatever you're using, pay attention to the timing.  When it's done, it's done, and get it out of the pot and into a bowl.  Add the cooked lentils, the cooked leaves, and now, the fresh kohlrabi.  Annalena recommends that if you have any leftover green vegetables around, you add them too (she had a mixture of green peans, peas, and fava beans.  They worked beautifully).    Now pour that dressing in, and stir things gently.  Taste again, for salt and pepper and adjust as you need to.

If you want to get super fancy, pile this onto some kind of butter lettuce when you serve it.  Or, just dish it up in bowls, maybe with a sprig or two of your favorite herb.  It's good cold, it's good room temperature.  Not so good right out of the pot.

And you know what?  We have a vegan dish here for our vegan friends, and we have a dish fairly high in protein for our trainers out there.

From start to finish, this will take you about 30 minutes to do.  How could that be bad?  Especially if Daniboi above likes it.