Sparks from the Kitchen

Recently I was looking through my Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Cooking Light Magazine and came across a salad named ‘Celery Root & Arugala Salad’ with the heading ‘Love This Ugly Root Vegetable’. How can you resist a title like that?! It’s almost a challenge!! So I took the challenge. I knew that my store had celery root (also named celeriac) as I had seen it the week before and, since I hadn’t ever eaten it, I was curious. I’m so glad that I tried it! It takes a bit like celery, but a bit of a lighter taste, and has the consistancy of jicama. It’s crunchy, it’s tasty, it’s inexpensive. It would be great on tacos or salads or burgers etc…

The salad turned out great. I changed the name because I felt the oranges played a far more important role than the arugala. It’s so easy to make-just a few minutes of prep, a few minutes resting the ingredients in the dressing and voila! delicious!! This salad also keeps extremely well. I had left overs the next evening and everything was still good and crunchy and delicious so it’s a great salad to make to bring to work the next day for lunch. Isn’t that just gorgeous?

Celery Root and Mandarin Orange Salad

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice  
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups matchstick-cut peeled celery root
• 2 cups thinly diagonally sliced celery
• 1/4 cup very thinly vertically sliced red onion
• 3 cups satsuma or other mandarin orange sections cut into 3s (fresh not canned if possible)
• 1 cup baby arugula 
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

1. Combine extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add celery root, celery, and onion; toss to coat. Let celery root mixture stand 30 minutes. Add orange sections, arugula, and parsley; toss gently to combine.

If you’re not sure of what to look for at the store or what’s inside here you g.

Adapted from Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2013 Issue.