Farm Bureau Quick Facts Quick Facts Kohlrabi looks and tastes similar to turnips, so most people use the bulb part of the vegetable. But the leaves are similar to spinach, kale or collard greens, and you don't have to look far to find recipes that suggest using both the bulb and the leafy greens in salads or stir-fry dishes. Although kohlrabi is similar to turnips, it's not a root vegetable. Its bulb is actually the stem part of the plant. When choosing kohlrabi, look for ones with small bulbs, about two to three inches in diameter.
Larger bulbs are more likely to be tough and woody.
The greens are also a good source of iron. In a recent study, researchers put video cameras in people's kitchens, using the ruse that they wanted to see how people cooked a special recipe the researchers had given them. The real reason was to determine kitchen food safety violations. In one study, more than half the participants failed to wash their hands before starting to cook. Also, each cook skipped washing hands an average of seven times during the cooking process when researchers said they should have washed.