Celery Root Purée

Recently I've been drooling over all the recipes on the fantastic blog, Oh My Veggies.  This gal Kiersten has some great vegetarian recipes up her sleeve.  Since our fridge is stuffed with mostly veggies, a tiny bit of chicken, some fish & on a rare occasion, red meat, this is right up my alley.  Head over & check out her recipes today. 

I recently the found myself lusting over this post for celery root purée on Oh My Veggies. Then I saw something on Food Network about it & then I was in the grocery store standing face-to-face with the ugliest thing in the produce department - celery root. I took it as a sign from the universe.  It was time to make & try celery root. I can't remember if I've had it before but I really haven't met a root vegetable I didn't like. 

These ugly - yet tasty- roots are what the stalks of celery you're making ants on a log & sticking in peanut butter grow out of. Not sure how they've been such an underdog of the desired part of this vegetable because they're actually really tasty so much so that I think my gal Ashley, who HATES celery, might actually enjoy them.

This purée is a great mashed potato alternative. It has milk, butter & salt mixed in with a root veggie - it's adult baby food & is oh so good.  Try it I think you'll like it.  Chris & I definitely did (read: no leftovers here).

Click through for the recipe that I adapted from the Eating Well recipe that I found via Oh My Veggies & my photos of this quick & easy process.



PS: "Hoppy" Easter :)


Ingredients

• 2 cups low-fat milk
• 2 cups water
• 2 pounds celery root bulbs, peeled (see Tip) & cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Make it!

1. Bring milk, water and celery root to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until very tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain.
4. Puree the celery root, butter, salt & pepper in a food processor (or blender) until smooth and the consistency of thinned mashed potatoes.
5. Add some of the reserved cooking liquid, if necessary, for the right consistency.

Tip: To peel celery root, remove the thick skin with a knife or use a vegetable peeler and peel around the root at least three times to make sure to remove the layer of the fibrous skin.