Ugly but Yummy!

I know that I randomly give you guys tips on yummy, healthy, and totally random fruits and vegetables.  Well, I wanted to give you the scoop on one of my favorite vegetables, but I always forget about it for some reason when people ask me about super veg: celeriac.  I was first introduced to this delicious treat when I lived in Edinburgh, Scotland.  I paid a farm a few GPB a week, and every Thursday morning I had a fresh sack of random veg on my doorstep!  The cool thing was that most of the time, I didn't know what the vegetables were, so the woman from the farm, who knew I was American, would leave a little note with the veg telling me what they were and how to cook them.  It was awesome, and how I got hooked on community supported agriculture (CSA)....and celeriac!

What is Celeriac?
It is a root vegetable, that is from the celery family, mosre specifically derived from wild celery, and it is probably one of the ugliest vegetables you'll find. Sometimes it is called celery knot, celery root, or turnip rooted celery, but it should just be called awesome!  It has a root that grows to usually 3.5 inches in length and has green stalks that grow from the base root, and the root is usually bumpy and dirty.  It has a rough outside, but once you remove the outside of the root, the flesh inside is softer than a potato and bright white.

Why is it good for you?
Celeriac is full of dietary fiber, which we all know fills you up, and in a 1/2 cup serving, only has about 30 calories!  This is a great vegetable to add to meals in lieu of potatoes or other root vegetables because it has this great lightly celery-ish kind of taste which adds a nice flavor, and it has the consistency of a potato.  They are full of Vitamin C, Phosphorous, and Potassium too. The cool thing is that, with lower calories, and tons of vitamins and minerals, mashed celeriac is more of a hit than mashed potatoes at many of my dinner parties. People always ask what's my secret....and the secret is that they aren't mashed potatoes, that's why they taste so different, and so good!  Plus you can eat them raw, as veggie sticks, or cook it and use as a base for soups.  Really, they are super versatile in cooking, just like potatoes, with the plus being that you can eat them raw and they taste good too.

What more could you want? A delicious, new, and interesting flavor, easy to cook with, and a dieters dream (with the low calories and high fiber content)!  Give it a try, if you find it in your local grocery store, buy it, give it a go, and let me know what you think!

Yours in Good Health
B