Celeriac
In the last five years or so we are finding many vegetables in grocery stores and farmers markets that we haven’t seen before. I can’t call them “new” vegetables as they are not new at all. They are simply unfamiliar to us because grocery stores, up until recently, were only carrying a few select, very nice looking, familiar vegetables.
Celeriac is rather funky looking and people will pass over it for a nice, clean, crisp carrot as opposed to something that looks, well, maybe like it was supposed to be thrown out but has mistakenly ended up on the grocery store shelf.
Celeriac, also known as celery root, is related to celery but is grown for it’s root rather than the stalk and leaves.
You need to pare away the tough outer skin to get to the delicious interior. As Miss Cadhla likes to say with her snarky sense of humor “Peel it deeply” (this must be said in a low voice.)
How do you use it? In a variety of ways. You can dice it small and add it to any sort of soup. It’s great in stews and it’s wonderful added to mashed Japanese sweet potatoes or regular potatoes. Personally I love a combination of mashed cauliflower, celeriac and potato. Celeriac has a fairly strong flavor so remember, a little goes a long way.
I have a lovely slaw where I grate it up in the food processor and add it to grated carrot and apple. Check out this recipe for my Winter Vegetable Slaw (which you can make at any time of the year).
Try something new this week! Enjoy!
