Roasted Fennel Kohlrabi SoupDelicious spring vegetables are roasted to bring out deep flavor, then pureed into a creamy, luscious soup topped with lemon zest and fennel fronds. If you’ve never heard of kohlrabi, it’s a mildly delicious cabbage cousin. Bonus: You can serve the roasted veggies as a side dish and create the soup on day 2 with the leftovers!

This pair of recipes is inspired by my CSA basket. I’ve talked about CSAs before, but if you’re not familiar with the term, it stands for community supported agriculture. You pay a weekly, monthly, or quarterly fee up front, allowing local farmers to get a guaranteed price for upcoming crops. Not only does this help support local small farms, they’re often organic (mine is a group of 23 organic farms), and you’re helping local farmers support their families. It’s a win-win. I pay about $25 a week for a good-sized bag of local, organic produce that would cost me (easily) double that at the farmer’s market.

My CSA is Garden of Eden Organics, and it’s run by a wonderful couple named Paul and Jennifer Trejo. I always enjoy seeing them on the morning of my pickup, and figuring out what I’m going to do with that week’s produce. I had never cooked kohlrabi before, so had to do some research.

You can eat kohrabi raw, make sauerkraut from it, stir fry, or steam it. In all cases you would peel it the same way I’ve described below.

Suitable for:
vegan, gluten-free, low-sodium, reduced-sugar diets

Not for:
migraine diets

Roasted Fennel Kohlrabi

Roasted fennel kohlrabi soup

Roasted fennel and kohlrabi, and a soup

Serve the roasted veggies on day one, then puree for a lovely soup the next day.
4.34 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Lunch
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

Roasted vegetables

  • 1 lemons large
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin)
  • 2 fennel large bulb
  • 6 kohlrabi
  • 6 onions (green) scallions, spring onions, large
  • 1 tsp sea salt kosher salt divided, (omit for low-sodium diet)
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Soup

  • 2 cups rice milk milk of your choice

Instructions
 

Roasted vegetables

  • Cut the lemon in half and remove the seeds. Roughly chop.
  • Remove the papery husks of the garlic by placing each under the flat blade of a large chef's knife pressing down on the widest part of the blade until the husk pops off. (Some TV chefs whack the blade with a fist. Only do this if you're very careful, have the blade facing away from you, and are using a very large, wide-bladed knife.)
  • Put the lemon pieces, garlic, and olive oil in the blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
  • Wash the fennel bulbs and cut off the bottom of the bulb, and the stems just past the top. Cut into pieces and put into a large bowl. Reserve some of the feathery fronds for a garnish. Wait until serving to mince them.
  • Cut off the arms of the kohlrabi, the bottom, and then peel each one.
    Cutting Kohlrabi
  • Remove the woody outer layer with a sharp paring knife until you reach what looks like a light green potato.
    Peeled kohlrabi
  • Cut them into halves or quarters and throw them into the bowl.
  • Wash the green onions. Cut off the root ends. Cut the stems about halfway up. Discard the tips. Add to the bowl.
  • Pour the marinade from the blender over the vegetables and let sit up to 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/gas mark 4. Spray a large glass baking dish and pour the vegetable mixture in. Add salt and pepper.
  • Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, then uncover, stir, and bake another 15 minutes. Everything should be soft when pierced with a fork and nicely golden brown. You can serve it at this point, topped with minced fennel fronds and some additional lemon zest.
    Roasted Fennel Kohlrabi

Soup

  • Reserve 2 pieces of fennel that are nicely caramelized and cut into small chunks.
  • Put everything else in the blender and add 1 C. (250 ml) rice milk (or the milk of your choice).
  • Begin blending, adding up to another 1 C. (250 ml) of milk until the soup is thick and creamy.
  • Serve warm or room temperature, topped with minced fennel fronds, lemon zest, and the reserved roasted fennel pieces.

Notes

Per serving:
  • 263 calories
  • 15 g fat
  • 2 g saturated fat
  • 10 g monounsaturated fat
  • 1 g polyunsaturated fat
  • 0 g trans fat
  • 0 g cholesterol
  • 680 mg sodium (118 mg sodium with salt omitted)
  • 558 mg potassium
  • 31 g carbohydrate
  • 8 g fiber
  • 8 g sugars
  • 4 g protein
  • 7 Weight Watchers Points Plus