Roasted kohlrabi and smoked salmon Nicoise salad

Today I’m sharing a different spin on a Nicoise salad. Traditionally, this dish would consist of boiled or steamed potato, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, green beans, tuna and olives. I have  swapped out a few of the original ingredients – tuna for smoked salmon, kohlrabi for potato, capers for olives – so perhaps it’s a little far fetched to still call this a Nicoise salad, though that’s what I’ve based it on. As the we arrive into the first few days of summer down here in Tasmania, the weather is still somewhat confused – warm and sunny one day, wet and windy the next – and though we’re definitely entering salad weather, I felt this dish could use a warm element to ease us into the sun-kissed season.

Originally I was going to roast some potatoes to serve in this salad, but after seeing some gorgeous purple kohlrabi staring out at me from one of the produce tables at the local farmers market over the weekend, I decided to use those instead. Kohlrabi is a relatively new additional to the veggie stalls at the farmers market here, and this is the first time I have cooked with it at home, but after recently eating a roasted kohlrabi dish out at a local restaurant I was so impressed that I couldn’t wait to cook with it at home.

If you’ve not tried kohlrabi before, it’s an interesting looking vegetable – somewhat of a fat bulb with little stalks protruding out the sides (it almost looks a little alien if you ask me!) Kohlrabi is actually a member of the cabbage family, and can be eaten raw in salads or cooked. When roasted, the outsides caramalise and the flesh softens and sweetens slightly yet still retaining its earthy undertones.

On another note, thank you to everyone who entered the competition to win a copy of Mielle Chenier-Cowan Rose’s lovely cookbook Veganish. The competition was randomly drawn tonight – congratulations Amber, you are the lucky winner! I’ll be in contact soon to get your postal address to send the book to.