Curried Celery Root and Apple Salad with Golden Raisins

As promised, the recipe for that delicious slaw pictured on Wednesday's post. The entire meal was based around the fact that I had some celery root (celeriac) lying around in my fridge, and wanted a new way to cook with it. Celery root is a very unique vegetable that T & I were introduced to through our CSA.

As seen below, celeriac (more commonly called celery root in the produce department of your grocery store), looks very scary on the outside. I'm talking scary in the sense that your dinner guests may take one look at it and decide they want to go out to eat scary.

Once peeled, it just looks like an ordinary potato, and has a delicious mild fresh celery flavor. It is after all from the root of a celery plant. It's amazing the things most of us would just throw away. Who knew celery has an edible root?! I know what you'll be finding in my garden some day!

This year for Christmas I received a wonderful new cookbook that has an abundance of ideas for seasonal salads. When I saw this recipe, I knew it was calling my name, and that it would pair perfectly with Porter Braised Chicken and Hoisin Beer BBQ Sauce. I'm happy to announce, it did not disappoint. The flavor was light and the texture was crunchy, making for an excellent and very summery tasting salad in winter. T & I especially enjoyed the addition of the apples and raisins which brought this slaw to a whole new level of delicious.

Recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma New Flavors for Salads

CURRIED CELERY ROOT & APPLES SALAD WITH RAISINS | Yield: 10 servings | Total Time: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 C celery root (celeriac), grated*
2 granny smith apples, thinly sliced
4 tsp lemon juice, divided
1/2 C slivered almonds
1 C + 3 Tbps mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
2 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 C golden raisins
1/4 C flat leaf parsley, chopped
Salt & pepper

*NOTE: If you do not have access to celery root, substitute 2-3 C from a bag of broccoli slaw. This can be found near the salad mixes at most grocery stores.

DIRECTIONS:

Peel and discard skin from the celery root, cut into quarters. Use a food processor with a grater attachment to grate celery root. You should have approximately 2-3 cups grated.

Halve and core the apples. Cut them into thin strips.* Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp lemon juice to prevent from discoloring.

*NOTE: I used a mandolin to achieve thin wafers of apple, then used a knife to slice into thin strips. You could try using a grater or just a plain old knife, but make sure the apple slivers are thick enough they won't disintegrate.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, 3 1/2 tsp lemon juice, honey, curry powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Stir in the almonds, celery root, apples, raisins, and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasonings and mayo mix as necessary.