Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Something Great You Never Tried - Celeriac

I think that a fun recurring topic will be "Something Great You Never Tried". One of my favorite things about cooking/dining is trying new things that I had always ignored or put off or never knew about. Everytime I go to Whole Foods, I see tons of things that I wonder about, even though I try to educate myself about different foods. This week, in my Fresh Picks delivery, I received something that I had never tried and was honestly frightened to see in the box. This thing that looked like a wart-covered potato was celeriac. I resisted the urge to pitch it and did some research.

Celeriac, aka celery root, is a relatively unknown and often avoided because of it's ugly appearance, but it's a very healthy fall/winter vegetable. It tastes mainly like celery (not shocking), although the flavor is a little more complex. Interestingly enough, it is not the root of the celery plant that we usually eat, it's actually just in the same family, but unlike it's better-known cousin, only its bulbous root is consumed and not the plant parts. It is just as versatile as celery because it can be used in recipes that call for celery, but it's nutritional value is much greater. A 1/2 cup of celeriac contains only 30 calories and is fat free as well as very high in fiber. It is prepared by cutting off the rough exterior and has a very pleasant consistency that lends well to soups, purees, or a number of other recipes.

Here are some recipes that I found on the web that all look fabulous:
So to use my celeriac, since I just got a new blender, I made a very easy soup that can be modified any way that suits your taste.


Simple Celeriac Soup



1 large celeriac bulb (peeled)
2 large potatoes (peeled)
1/2 yellow onion
1 clove garlic
2 C vegetable broth (I like Imagine Organic Low Sodium Vegetable broth)
1 C water
  1. Chop the onion and garlic and heat in some cooking spray or olive oil in the bottom of a pot over low heat until soft/transparent
  2. Add broth and water to the pot and bring to a boil
  3. Cut potatoes and celeriac into chunks and add to the pot. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are soft (about 20 minutes)
  4. Transfer broth and vegetables to blender and mix until smooth (mix in batches and be careful not to overfill your blender and also make sure some of the heat can escape out of the hole in the top of the blender so pressure doesn't build too much
  5. Put soup back into the pot and add salt, pepper, spices to taste. Allow to simmer for about 15-30 minutes more for flavors to blend even more.
  6. Serve with your choice of crackers or side. Excellent garnished with parsley.

This is another recipe that tastes better the longer the flavors have to blend, so definitely hang on to leftovers. This soup has a really smooth texture that is perfect for cold weather and very easy to season different ways for different results and would probably be great mixed with other vegetables as well. Hope you like celeriac if you give it a chance


What are some things you haven't tried or finally tried and loved? I would love ideas for new entries or just suggestions to expand my own tastes. Feel free to comment or email me.

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