Kohlrabi

This technique is nothing short of amazing—even if you're finicky about your pickles.

Feel free to vary the vegetables in this salad according to what you have in your garden or find at the farmers' market.

Kohlrabi has a muted flavor and crunchy texture similar to a broccoli stem, which is something to keep in mind for this pickles recipe.

It's a pain, but you have to peel the kohlrabi for this recipe. Take off enough of the purple or green skin to reveal the inner white flesh.

This is made with house-pickled herring at Oberlin, but smoked trout is equally delicious as an ­anchovy alt. If you can’t get kohlrabi, try this same scenario on romaine. This recipe is from Oberlin, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

Kohlrabi is underappreciated and misunderstood. But we've decided it's got our favorite crunch: sweet, dense, and snappy (think broccoli stem).

These two members of the cabbage family deliver an interesting twist to standard coleslaw. Both kohlrabi and turnips offer fiber, iron, and vitamin C, and the thick kohlrabi leaves boast a high dose of cancer-fighting phytochemicals.

There is something uplifting about refreshing food eaten on a frosty day. What follows is a light, fresh-tasting salad that makes your eyes sparkle.

It's amazing how a splash of citrus and a handful of pistachios can transform a pair of humble brassicas—kale and kohlrabi both belong to that genus—into a bright, fresh, and lively dish. Although this recipe represents the letter k, it could just as easily have been g, for green. Or great.

Ruggiero was so smitten with the kohlrabi salad at St. JOHN Bread & Wine, in London, that she snapped a photo of her plate and vowed to create her own version back in the States. Kohlrabi, which looks a lot like an alien spaceship, is as crisp as celery and has a pleasant mustardy flavor. Here, paper-thin slices get some additional zip from capers. The salad is so refreshing, it’s an ideal interlude between the extravagant meal and the dessert to come.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text are from Dana Slatkin's book The Summertime Anytime Cookbook. With an appealing assortment of textures and flavors, this simple yet unexpected whitefish preparation will enhance any evening. In case you're not familiar with kohlrabi, it's part cabbage, part root; looks like a small, light green (or sometimes purple) turnip; and tastes like a cross between celery root and broccoli stem. This dish is flexible enough that you can substitute any mild fish, such as halibut, red snapper, or John Dory, or swap the kohlrabi for broccoli or cauliflower.

Food editor Maggie Ruggiero became enamored of a sesame-dressed salad at Donguri, a Japanese home-cooking restaurant in New York City. This is her take on it. Because the sesame seeds are unhulled, they have a richness that flatters the freshness of spring vegetables—here, cool kohlrabi and sweet pea shoots.

We love the contrasts at play in this dish—from its earthy, sweet flavors to its velvety, crisp textures. The convenience of being able to roast these vegetables along with the turkey roulade is just another reason to make them.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.