This is an edit of one of the first recipes I had on this site. I had basically just started eating raw and was trying to eat seasonally in London. I had nothing but root vegetables lying around and I had no idea what to do with them! So I came up with a very simple salad recipe, that, to my surprise, actually tasted really yummy and I was happy to find a way to eat seasonal root vegetables raw.

Ingredients for a winter root vegetable salad

• 1 small kohlrabi
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsnip
• 1/4 cup dill
• 1/2 avocado (optional)

• Juice from half a lemon
• 1 tsp. salt (just follow your taste on this one)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. mixed herbs
• Just a touch of ground pepper (I use a mix of white, black and red)

Optional extras:

• Ground coriander seeds
• Sauerkraut (as shown in the photo)
• Sesame or pumpkin seeds

How to make the raw kohlrabi-parsnip salad

Personally, until I made this, I’ve never even held a kohlrabi before in my life, so when I read that you can eat it raw, I was quite excited to try it. It tastes kind of radishy, but not as strong.

• You begin by peeling the kohlrabi, they can be either green or purple.
• It’s too round to peel with a julienne peeler (that makes it look like spaghetti) so I just grated it.
• The parsnip and the carrot (both peeled) you can turn into “pasta” using either a spiraliser if you have one, or a julienne peeler. I like to vary the textures, so I cut the carrot with a knife into slightly thicker pieces.
• Cut the dill finely and chop the avocado into small squares, if you’re going to add it.
• Mix it all up in a bowl, then add salt, olive oil, herbs and lemon juice to taste. Stir it well.
• After a few minutes, it will release juice and go softer, which will make it nicer to eat.

It’s filling enough to eat on its own, or you can use it as a side dish with a warm pumpkin soup mmm!

I’ve decided to leave this last photo up for a laugh. You can see how it looked back in 2011 (I added zucchini to it then) and what I’ve done with it 3 yeas later. This is just so you don’t get discouraged from doing something if you don’t have all the ingredients, as you can see, the version below has no avocado, no herbs and no dill, yet it still tasted just like the one I did recently. If you don’t have something, just substitute it, or leave it out all together – that’s how new recipes are born.