I like to call this simple cabbage and ground beef meal egg roll stir-fry because it reminds me of eating the inside of an eggroll. It’s a really simple, low oxalate dish that I started making fifteen years ago and still make regularly. In fact, it’s one of my stand-bys, especially for lunches. I like to make a double batch of egg roll stir-fry on Sunday, serve it up into five or six pyrex glass left-over containers and take it every day to school for a nourishing, low oxalate lunch.  You can add extra seasonings like ginger, sesame seed oil, or coconut aminos, but I find a little bit of salt and white pepper is still my favorite. Egg roll stir-fry is gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo approved, and GAPS friendly, so if you are trying to heal gut issues, this simple stir-fry might work for you. Best of all, it’s really easy to make.

One reason egg roll stir-fry is so simple is because it uses pre-washed, pre-shredded, preservatie-free cole slaw mix. You can chop up your own cabbage for egg roll stir-fry if you want, but I almost always opt for cole slaw mix to make this recipe really easy. The mix I like best is the store brand at my local grocery store. It contains mostly green and purple cabbage with a little bit of carrot. Before carrots were retested last fall and found to be medium oxalate (11.39 mg. per half cup raw)  instead of high oxalate, I separated out all the carrots and measured them to see just how much carrot was in my one pound bag of coleslaw mix (yes, totally OCD, I know). I measured less than 1/4 cup carrot and about 3 cups mixed green and purple cabbage, so I decided it was okay to eat. Now we know for sure that it’s okay, and I base my oxalate totals on this break down of the cabbage mix.

Hope you enjoy this simple stir-fry as much as I do.

Egg Roll Stir-Fry

1 lb. ground beef or ground pork
1 onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2-3 cloves garlic
1 one pound package cole slaw mix (or about 3 cups chopped cabbage)
1/2 cup green peas (optional)
Salt and white pepper to taste (UK readers click here)
2 T coconut aminos (optional)

Cook ground beef in a dutch oven over medium heat until it’s about half brown, half pink. Add the onions and garlic and stir-fry for another 4-5 minutes until the meat is browned throughout. Add cole slaw mix and continue to stir-fry until the cabbage is tender (about 8 – 10 minutes).  If you are using a high fat ground beef you may have to drain some of the fat before adding the cabbage. I use ground chuck and it’s about the right amount of fat and steamed meat juices to cook the cabbage nicely. When the cabbage is tender, add the peas and coconut aminos if using and heat through. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Makes four servings.

Low Oxalate Info: All ingredients in egg roll stir-fry are low oxalate, except for the very small amount of carrots, which are medium oxalate (5.7 mg. oxalate per one fourth cup).  One serving of egg-roll stir fry (made with coconut aminos, peas and 1/2 teaspoon white pepper) has 5.5 mg. oxalate. I eat a serving of egg-roll stir-fry as my entire meal, but it’s also great served over long grain white rice.

Other Diets: Egg roll stir-fry may also be appropriate for gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo, GAPS and GFCF diets.

Kohlrabi is one of those vegetables that you probably never heard of until you started the low oxalate diet.  It seems most American chefs and home cooks have never heard of it either, or at least don’t cook with it.  I own at least 20 cookbooks and only Molly Katzen, author of the Enchanted Broccoli Forest, mentions kohlrabi, although she doesn’t give a recipe – just good advice to try this wonderful, weird little veggie if you haven’t already.  At 0.6 mg. oxalate per half cup, sliced, I agree.  This is one very low oxalate veggie worth getting acquainted with!

Smile! Low Oxalate Kohlrabi is nutritious and delicious!

Kohlrabi is German for “cabbage turnip.”  In his book “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” the nutritionist Jonny Bowden describes kohlrabi as a cross between an octopus and a space capsule.  It does look slightly alien, especially if it still has the leaves or stems.  Kohlrabi is a member of the brassica family and is a good source of potassium, vitamins C and A, calcium, fiber and antioxidants.  It can be eaten raw or cooked, and tastes a little like a sweet, mild cross between a cabbage and a radish, or as Elizabeth Schneider, in her classic Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables, put it: kohlrabi tastes “like the freshest, crunchiest broccoli stems, touched with a hint of radish and cucumber.” Both the leaves and the bulb (which is actually its swollen stem, not its root) are edible and tasty.  We only know the oxalate content of the bulb (0.6 mg. oxalate per half cup), but all members of the brassica family are either low or medium oxalate, so it is likely that the leaves of kohlrabi are also low or medium oxalate.

If you plan to eat kohlrabi raw, try to find smallish bulbs – 2-3 inches in diameter.  Peel them until you reach the juicy center and enjoy!  The larger bulbs (3-5 inches diameter) tend to get somewhat fibrous and could benefit from cooking.  You may also notice on the larger bulbs that the peel comes in two layers, the tough peel and a fibrous undercoating.  Be sure to peel down to the juicy, tender part of the bulb (double peeling usually is enough) or you may end up with a tough outer layer that doesn’t get tender when cooked.  If you end up growing monster bulbs in your own garden (greater than 5 inches diameter), go ahead and cook them.  They may still make a tasty mashed veggie dish with butter, but don’t buy the really big bulbs at the store.  The smaller, juicier ones are usually much better.

Kohlrabi nested Egg! Here the Kohlrabi is cut into matchsticks instead of the half inch dice and sauteed like hash browns! A fabulous way to keep your breakfast low oxalate, GAPS -legal, Paleo and nutritious!

The really good news about kohlrabi, besides it being very low oxalate, is its versatility.  You can eat kohlrabi raw in salads, or you can eat it roasted, boiled, steamed, sauteed or blanched.  When left raw, it soaks up dressings very well, making it the perfect vegetable for shredding into slaws or other dressed salads.  You can even cut it into coins, similar to cucumbers, and use it as a substitute for crackers in your summer appetizers.  Kohlrabi can also be boiled and mashed with root vegetables such as turnips, to make a yummy alternative to mashed potatoes.  It fact, it has a slightly earthy taste and texture when roasted, similar to a mild turnip.  Plus, it pairs well with cheese and cream sauces, making it a fabulous addition to casseroles and savory rice dishes.  I’ve substituted kohlrabi for half the brussel sprouts in Roasted Brussel Sprouts and for half the cauliflower in Mashed Cauliflower – both with fantastic results.  You can also use kohlrabi in almost any dish that calls for turnips or cabbage, although sometimes the kohlrabi needs a little more cooking time to reach the same tenderness as its namesakes.

I’ve harvested a bumper crop of kohlrabi from my garden this year, so I hope to share a few of my old favorite recipes, plus try a few new recipes over the next few weeks.  Here’s a simple one to get you started: roasted kohlrabi.  After all, what veggie doesn’t improve with simple roasting?

Roasted Kohlrabi

3 cups kohlrabi (3-6 kohlrabi bulbs depending on size)
2  tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme (optional)

Peel the kohlrabi until you reach the juicy inside flesh, then dice the kohlrabi into half inch pieces.  Put the olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and thyme in a bowl and mix well.  Add the kohlrabi and toss with the oil mixture until all pieces are coated.  Spread the kohlrabi on a baking sheet or in a glass baking dish.  Roast at 400 degrees, stirring every 5-8 minutes after 20 minutes,  for about 35-40  minutes until the kohlrabi is fork tender.

Serves 6

Variations:  Prepare the kohlrabi as above, except braise the kohlrabi in a skillet over medium heat instead of roasting it.  Yum!

You may also cut it into match-sticks (or any other shape you like), leave out the thyme and brown it in the skillet like hash browns for a fabulous low oxalate, Paleo, and GAPS-legal breakfast treat (see above).  This is especially yummy if you use lard, bacon fat, butter or ghee instead of olive oil.

Low Oxalate Info:  Roasted Kohlrabi has about 1 mg. oxalate per serving, so go ahead and have seconds or thirds!

Other Diets: Roasted Kohlrabi may also be appropriate for GAPS, SCD, Paleo, vegetarian, vegan, GFCF, gluten-free, dairy-free and low carb diets.

Photo Credits go to dichohecho for smile and to Laurel Fan for Kohlrabi Nested Egg.

Low Oxalate Cabbage

One of the most common reactions I hear from folks who are new to the low oxalate diet is “What do you mean I can’t eat spinach?  But spinach is sooo good for you!  How can this low oxalate diet be healthy?”  Well, I have some good news and some bad news.  First, spinach is not good for YOU (although it might be okay for some other people with rock solid digestive tracts and little endogenous oxalate production).  I know it can be hard at first, but just let spinach go if you haven’t already.  Spinach is not your friend, and you don’t need it to be healthy. Second, you can eat lots of fabulous, nutritious greens on the low oxalate diet, including dino kale, mustard greens, water cress and turnip greens.  In fact, many of these greens have a much better nutritional profile than spinach, plus the calcium and other minerals in low oxalate greens are more bio-available than those in high oxalate greens because there isn’t a lot of oxalate binding the minerals up in your gut.  Yay!  This low oxalate diet is sounding better all the time, isn’t it?

Since so many people grow up eating only three leafy greens (lettuce, spinach and cabbage) and aren’t familiar with the huge array of fabulous and nutritious greens available on the low oxalate diet,  I put together the guide below to help you use medium and low oxalate greens more confidently. Are you ready to experiment?

Collard Greens

Making a soup?  Try adding a handful of mustard greens, pea greens or American cress (see Chicken Sausage Soup with Mustard Greens and Mushrooms for one of my favorite soup recipes).  Craving a salad?  Try adding some arugala,  kohlrabi or water cress for a peppery bite.  Want to try your hand at fermenting?  Use a tough green like mustard greens, cabbage or broccoli rabe.  Just want some comfort food?  Make a pot of southern-style low oxalate greens with turnip greens or collard greens.  Have fun trying something new!

How to Read the Tables:  Very low oxalate greens have less than 1 mg. oxalate per half cup and are marked in the low oxalate list with an asterik. Low oxalate greens have 1- 5 mg. oxalate per half cup.  Medium oxalate greens have 5 -15 mg. oxalate per half cup.  All oxalate values are for one half cup raw greens unless otherwise stated.  Oxalate values for cooked greens are measured after cooking.  For example, if the oxalate value is for boiled greens, this means that the greens were boiled for at least 6 minutes and the cooking water has been thrown out or used to water the house plants.  Please note in the cooking section I have included all common or tasty cooking methods for each green, although we don’t have oxalate values for all cooking methods.  Use the raw value and measure before cooking if I haven’t listed a value for the cooked green.

Sources: All oxalate values in these tables come from the Autism Oxalate Project or the VP Foundation’s oxalate testing programs and were either tested in Dr. Michael Liebman’s laboratory (University of Wyoming) or reviewed by Dr. Michael Liebman for the Low Oxalate Cookbook 2.

Low Oxalate Greens:                                                           Medium Oxalate Greens:
Mustard Greens (boiled)                                                           Collard Greens (boiled or steamed)
Cabbage (nappa, purple, green, savoy)                               Belgian Endive or Chicory
Bok Choy                                                                                          Grape Leaves
Turnip Greens (boiled)                                                               Broccoli Rabe/Rapini(steamed)
Dino/Lacinato/Tuscan Kale (boiled)                                   Dandelion Greens (raw or boiled)
Lettuce (Cornsalad, Iceberg, Bibb)                                       Mustard Greens (steamed)
Lettuce (Romaine, Butter, Boston)*                                     Turnip Greens (steamed)
Broccoli Rabe/Rapini                                                                 Curly Kale
Collard Greens                                                                               Green onions (green part)
Creasy/American Cress (boiled)                                            Shallots
Pea Greens                                                                                       Broccoli (steamed)
Arugula*                                                                                           Fennel (raw or boiled)
Alfalfa Sprouts                                                                                Brussel Sprouts (steamed or boiled)
Water Cress (raw or boiled)
Kohlrabi*
Broccoli (raw or boiled)

Mild-Tasting Greens:                                                             Zesty or Spicy Greens:
Turnip Greens (when cooked)                                                   Turnip Greens (spicy/bitter when raw)
Collard Greens                                                                                  Mustard Greens* (bitter when raw)
Dino Kale                                                                                             Dandelion Greens
Curly Kale                                                                                           Arugula
Pea Greens                                                                                          Broccoli Rabe/Rapini (bitter when raw)
All LO Lettuces                                                                                 Green Onions
Alfalfa Sprouts                                                                                  Shallots (raw)
Fennel (mild but flavorful)                                                          Water Cress
Shallots (sauteed)                                                                            Kohlrabi
Broccoli                                                                                               American Cress
Brussel Sprouts

Greens to Eat Braised or Steamed:                              Greens to Eat Boiled:
Mustard Greens                                                                                 Turnip Greens
Turnip Greens                                                                                    Collard Greens
Collard Greens                                                                                   Curly Kale
Dino Kale                                                                                              Dino Kale
Curly Kale                                                                                            Mustard Greens
Bok Choy                                                                                              Broccoli Rabe
Belgian Endive (light heat only)                                                 Collard Greens
Broccoli Rabe                                                                                     Water Cress (in soups)
All Cabbages                                                                                        Dandelion Greens
Broccoli                                                                                                 Broccoli
Water Cress (light heat only)                                                        Fennel
Fennel                                                                                                    Pea Greens
Pea Greens                                                                                           All Cabbages
Brussel Sprouts                                                                                  Brussel Sprouts

Greens to Eat Raw:                                                                    Greens to Ferment:
All LO Lettuces                                                                                 All Cabbages
Bok Choy                                                                                              Bok Choy
All Cabbages                                                                                       Grape Leaves
Arugala                                                                                                 Mustard Greens
Dandelion Greens                                                                             Kohlrabi
American Cress                                                                                 Turnip Greens
Belgian Endive                                                                                    Broccoli Rabe/Rapini
Broccoli                                                                                                 Collard Greens
Alfalfa Sprouts                                                                                    Dino Kale
Water Cress                                                                                          Broccoli
Fennel (leaves especially)                                                             Fennel (bulb)
Curly Kale

Best Spinach Substitutes in Recipes:

Braised Turnip Greens and Kohlrabi with Green Onions, Yellow Onions and Bacon

Dino Kale (cooked)
Turnip Greens (cooked)
Romaine Lettuce (raw)

Washing Low Oxalate Greens:  The easiest way to wash greens is to fill a sink or large mixing bowl with water and submerge the greens, gently swishing them around.  If sediment falls out, pour out the water and wash one more time.  Salad dressings won’t stick to wet greens, so let them dry before eating in salads (you can spread them out on cloth or paper towels to dry faster or pat them lightly with a dish towel).

Preparing Low Oxalate Greens: If the stems are small and bend easily you don’t have to remove them.  If you are using tougher greens with big stems, however, remove the stem and the rib (mustard greens, turnip greens and collard greens usually have to be de-ribbed).  Tear or cut the greens into bite-sized pieces.

Braising Low Oxalate Greens:  Most greens benefit from low to medium heat vs. high heat and light braising versus long cooking.  Try using grass-fed butter, coconut oil, olive oil or bacon fat for your braising fat (2-4 tablespoons for a big skillet of greens).  Toss the greens around in the skillet for a few minutes until they are done (taste as you go –braised greens are done when you think they taste done!). If your are using tougher, “big-leaved” greens, you may need to put the lid on for a minute or two and let them steam.  Add a little salt, garlic or vinegar for seasoning at the end and enjoy. Yum!

Boiling Low Oxalate Greens:  Make sure the greens are submerged and boil for 6 – 10 minutes depending on the green (it might take a few minutes for the greens to “boil down” enough to all fit in your pot and be submerged).  You want it to boil long enough to cook the green and leach out as much soluble oxalate as possible, but not so long that you are left with a limp, mushy pile.  Boiled greens are delicious seasoned with salt, garlic salt, white pepper, butter, vinegar or olive oil.

Fermenting Low Oxalate Greens:  This is a post all of it’s own!  I’ll be experimenting this summer and reporting my results in follow-up posts, so please check back.

Photo credits go to karendalziel for Braised Greens, to Steven Jackson for Collards and to Christian Guthier for Cabbage.