Celeriac Salad

On New Year's eve I was introduced to a wonderful creamy salad that is reminiscent of coleslaw but has much more flavor and no barbecue connotations. This would be celeriac or celery root salad. I had been wishing Trader Joe's would come through for me and carry this uncommon root vegetable. No luck at TJ's. However, the 2010 snowpocalypse did have a silver lining for me. On the Friday before the storm hit, Trader Joe's had a line out the door so my boyfriend decided to grocery shop at the Whole Foods in Logan's circle. As the thoughtful guy he is, when he saw celery root he brought it back for me so I could finally make this salad I had been gushing about since January when I ate it at his house. Long story short I'd like to thank my boyfriend and his mother for bringing celeriac into my life. One can never eat enough root vegetables.

Celeriac Salad

1 large celery root
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 plain yogurt
2 tbs whole grain mustard
1/4 cup capers (more if you're a fan like me)

Cut off the top of the celery root then take off the rough skin by cutting about 1/4 of an inch into the root. This should expose the white flesh. Use the medium holes on a cheese grater to grate the root. You need to grate all of root that you take the skin off of because the flesh oxidizes easily. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Then stir the wet ingredients into the grated celeriac.

I did not add any salt and pepper because with the celery, mustard, and capers there are already enough flavors. The hardest part of this recipe is grating the whole celery root because root is quite tough. If you're fast the prep time can be 20 minutes or less. If you're slow, then I recommend grating the celery root in shifts while you complete other kitchen tasks. The strong flavor of this salad is a good complement to a pork loin or a flank steak or any type of beef. One celery root makes a lot of salad and it's not something you eat large servings of so you can eat it all week with all meals like I have been doing...