Oven Roasted Winter Vegetables
Can you guess what the white vegetable is? It's not a potato!
Judging from the number of people who are surprised when I serve it....most people have never tried celery root.
I will admit that I'd never had it until my European in-laws made a soup for New Year's Eve that had this odd white vegetable. But I'm up for new things, so I tried it--and loved it! (I also tried parsnips for the first time and was not so impressed. It's OK to not like everything that we try!)
And while we are on trying new things, I have been living the "Steamed is the best way to cook vegetables" philosophy for a LONG time. But a couple of years ago a friend turned me on to roasting. Now, I'd had roasted vegetables--in restaurants, in fancy recipes--but I had no idea how easy, nutritious, and delicious roasting is!
Now it's just about the only way I cook my vegetables.
So let's combine new thing #1--celery root, and new thing #2--roasting!
Here I have a huge beet, a huge garnet yam, and a huge celery root. (If you get big ones you don't have to peel so much!) You can also roast carrots, winter squashes, parsnips, potatoes (the fingerling potatoes cut in half lengthwise are fantastic!), asparagus, green beans, brussels sprouts (they are so delicious roasted! Cut them in half), onions, broccoli, leeks, cauliflower, mushrooms, and so much more! Think of the possible beautiful taste and color combinations!