Napa Cabbage and Kohlrabi Salad

Karen and I were craving Pad Thai the other night. In thinking of what else could go with this Asian dish, I remembered that we had some Napa cabbages (aka Chinese cabbages) in the fridge that I saved from a hard freeze a few weeks earlier. They were the beautiful 'Red Dragon' variety, a new cultivar that has crinkled purple foliage. Napa cabbages amaze me because they grow so fast, but these heads were a bit smaller, perhaps because I got them in the ground a bit late. I like the petite size, though. They fit well in the fridge where they will last for several weeks in a bag after harvesting.

‘Red Dragon’ Napa cabbage after a few weeks in the fridge still holds up well.

Because these heads were so beautiful, I wanted something more than just throwing them into a stir fry. I remembered this Napa cabbage salad I had a restaurant once with a sweet vinaigrette and these crunchy noodles and almonds on top.

I walked through the garden to see what else I could throw into my salad. I noticed my kohlrabi that I covered to protect from the hard freeze looking good and ready to harvest. It amazes me how such a thin layer of floating row cover is so effective at preventing freeze damage. Even the cauliflower and kale leaves in the next bed over were burned, and yet the kohlrabi that was covered showed no damage.

The corm of kohlrabi

Some of you may not be very familiar with kohlrabi, which roughly translates as cabbage (kohl-) turnip (-rabi). It is the same species as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, but instead of an enlarged head or flower, kohlrabi has been selected for its swollen stem or corm. It frustrates me to see people (even prominent magazines) call this structure a bulb. A bulb, of course, is modified leaf tissue wrapping around a central meristem, or growing point. Just cut a kohlrabi open, and you won't see layers like you would a bulbous onion. No, instead you'll see an off white, delicious stem core under the green or purple exterior. I tell those who have never tried it and are missing out to imagine the crunch of an apple with a sweet, nutty broccoli flavor. Yes, this vegetable with its crunch would go very well with the ramen noodles and almonds I would use as a topping. (Side note, even the leaves of kohlrabi are edible. The main reason I like to protect the plant during the winter is because the foliage sweetens a bit after a freeze, and I cook it like collards.)

Kohlrabi and Napa cabbage being prepped for the salad.

I modified a recipe I found online, and after making it, I can happily say that I have added another dish to our kitchen repertoire. Even Karen thought it was so good she went back for seconds.

If you don't have either of these vegetables in your garden, both of them grow fairly quickly. Therefore, consider adding some Napa cabbage and kohlrabi to your spring seed orders. With this delicious salad, you won’t be disappointed growing something new.

INGREDIENTS

THE GREENS

1 Napa cabbage

1 bunch scallions

2 corms of kohlrabi

THE TOPPING

1/3 cup butter

1 package ramen noodles, broken

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 cup sliced almonds

A pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)

THE VINAIGRETTE

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. Thinly chop or shred the head of the Napa cabbage. Mince the scallions. Peel the exterior of the kohlrabi corm and thinly slice or shred. Mix all three together for the green salad base.

2. For the topping, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a bowl, and mix the ramen noodles, sesame seeds, and almonds into the pot with the melted butter. Put the mixture onto a baking sheet, apply a pinch of salt to the toppings, and bake this topping in the oven. You will need to watch them and stir them often to make sure they do not burn. When the topping is golden brown, remove from the oven.

3. For the vinaigrette, in a small saucepan, heat apple cider vinegar, oil, sugar, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat, and let the dressing cool.

4. Combine the vinaigrette, the topping, and the greens immediately before serving. The ramen noodles in the topping will get soggy if premixed for a while before eating. Enjoy!

Delicious Napa cabbage and kohlrabi salad with toppings and vinaigrette.

Inspiration from Potager du Roi

In late May a few years ago, I helped lead a student trip to France. A few of them joined me on a free-day excursion to Potager du Roi, the twenty-five acre kitchen garden for the palace of Versailles and King Louis XIV.  The flourishing garden was a source of food for not only meals for the king and his family but also special guests and feasts.  Today, it still serves as a source of inspiration for gardeners.  

The King’s Vegetable Garden was built in 1683 after five years of construction, and the design that was originally created then hasn’t changed much.  Upon entering this space, one might never guess that it was once a swamp that had to be drained and have rubble placed underground to allow the soil to dry out. Formal lines now occupy this once wet wilderness.  At the center of the garden, sixteen rectangular-shaped beds are arranged around a fountain.  Another twenty-nine gardening areas surround this area.     

A fountain sits at the center of Potager du Roi.

Much of the garden’s success was due to the efforts of Jean-Baptiste La Quintinie.  La Quintinie was a lawyer until he saw incredible gardens on a trip to Italy and changed his career path.  (See, even 300 years ago, people were coming to horticulture after making other life choices).  He read much about cultivating plants, and his passion would eventually be recognized by King Louis XIV who gave him the role of “director of all royal fruit and vegetables gardens.” La Quintinie was so dedicated that he would even send shipments of produce when the king was traveling.

Reading in Le Potager du Roi by Stéphanie de Courtois about La Quintinie and his experiments reminded me of my early gardening pursuits with cold frames and covers.  He used manure and glass to extend the season for crops.  In his book Instruction pour les Jardins Fruitiers et Potagers, he said,

“Heat in the earth and in the air can only be produced regularly from the sun.  I have to admit that I was more than a little happy, however, to imitate it in order to benefit certain fruit.  I have succeeded in ripening five or six weeks before their time, strawberries at the end of March, peas in April, figs in June, asparagus and lettuces in December and January…”

— Jean-Baptiste La Quintinie

Another quote of his has become one of my favorites. “A good gardener should always be looking for new ideas.”  A man after my own heart.  

Don’t all horticulturists aspire to have a statue of themselves holding a grafting knife erected somewhere?

Over the years, interest in Potager du Roi producing food would ebb and flow but never fully wane.  However, after the French revolution, the garden would shift its purpose from nurturing the stomachs of royalty to nurturing the minds of students.  In 1849, Potager du Roi would become a learning garden for students in the National Agronomic Institute in Versailles under the stewardship of Auguste Hardy.   Under his leadership, the school became self sufficient from all the produce grown and sold with the help of fifty student workers, and the students learned the intricacies of horticultural practices within a two-year period.  By 1900 the garden would become well known for the caliber of graduates it produced.  

Bee hives nestled under fruit trees in Potager du Roi.

After a hard winter in 1879 and 1880, Hardy increased the collections of apples to over 300, pears to over 500, and peaches to almost 100.  It was then that he introduced more espalier shapes into the garden and eventually over thirty different espaliers would be used.

Espaliered fruit trees were used extensively throughout Potager du Roi.

In the 1900’s as more theoretical horticulture was taught, students began spending less time in the garden but still used Potager du Roi as a living lab for classes.  Conserving the site also became a focus.  The site was listed as a heritage building in the 1920’s.  In the 1990’s the garden would fall under the direction of French National Landscape Architecture School and with help from the World Monuments Fund would see some needed repair to parts of the garden.  However, the thread of experimentation and learning that started with La Quintinie is still alive today in Potager du Roi with student gardens providing space for learning and the staff gardeners trying new varieties and keeping the historical horticulture practices alive.    

Here you see part of the student garden. Such a pastoral feel within the city.

More of the student garden plots. Note the plots are marked with sunken logs. Also, simple yet effective trellises have been employed.

WHAT I LEARNED

The biggest inspiration I took from the garden was seeing all the different types of espaliers.  Fruit trees were trained in a myriad of shapes in the garden including low fences, wavy lines, circles, pyramids, and even a vase-shaped tree.  Just look at these pictures below. It is mind-blowing the attention to detail and the patience.

A candelabra cordon. For future reference, a cordon is the name of a training system in orchards and vineyards where a permanent branch or branches support offshoots.

I loved seeing these fence-type cordons. It gave me the idea to one day try it back home with figs or other southern fruits.

Angelica planted between rows of espaliered apples.

Here we see shoots coming off an oblique cordon.

I think most of us have seen some form of plant contortion like from the photos above, but I don’t know if you’re ready for the awesomeness that follows.

There were circles!!!

There were waves!!!

There were pyramids!!!

AND, THERE WAS THIS AMAZING VASE-SHAPED ESPALIER!!! I MEAN LOOK AT IT!?!?!

MIND BLOWING, RIGHT!?!

Seeing the guides in place helps one understand just how they can achieve this level of plant manipulation.

Frames for guiding the eventual espaliers.

But, what about the vase? That was likely achieved through a technique called topworking. Topworking is a special type of apical graft where the top of the plant is cut off and several new pieces of scion are inserted into the rootstock. And, while at Potager du Roi, I saw one for the first time!

A successful topworked graft! You read about these techniques in books, and then actually seeing them is so impressive.

I was also inspired from seeing the vegetables growing in the garden. Many were intercropped together along the wall that ran the lengths of the garden.

Here chives, fava beans, and English peas grow together in a bed.

The wall provides support for trellising English peas.

Here we see more intercropping. Chives once again flanks the planting of an Allium, what appears to be celery, lettuce, and fava beans.

An herb garden against the wall at Potager du Roi is the perfect place to site an insect hotel.

A few straggler weeds grow amongst chamomile and borage.

I can’t resist photographing the star-shaped flowers of borage, and this bee can’t resist enjoying them either!

If you ever get a chance to go to Paris, I highly recommend you visit Potager du Roi near the Palace of Versailles. The garden is imbued with over 300 years of history, and it was enchanting to see practices that while old may need to return to use in today’s small yards. The students and I left inspired, and I’m sure you will, too.

One last look at Potager du Roi with the Versailles Cathedral in the background.