Roasted Celery Root (Celeriac) Salad

This roasted celeriac salad is full of delicious autumnal flavours.  The sweet and earthy celery root is accompanied by refreshing apple, crunchy pecans and peppery arugula.  Perfect served on its own, as a light meal or alongside chicken or turkey.

This celery root salad is rich in flavour as well as texture. The combination of raw and cooked ingredients creates a complex dish, sweet and tangy, savoury, refreshing, crunchy and absolutely delicious!

Celeriac (celery root) is not the most vibrant or appealing looking vegetable but offers a surprisingly intense, delicious flavour which is a mixture of earthy, sweet and nutty.  Roasting brings out all of its complexity and for me personally there is no better way of enjoying this vegetable.

Celery root salad ingredients

This autumnal salad recipe combines roasted celery root with apple, lightly toasted pecans, refreshing mint and naturally peppery arugula leaves.  There is also a little maple syrup which I used to coat the celeriac shavings (along with some oil and seasoning).

Maple syrup is also one of the ingredients of the simple dressing I used for this celery root salad (besides oil and lemon juice). 

How to prepare the celeriac

To prepare the celeriac cut the knobs off then simply peel the celeriac using a vegetable peeler (you can also halve your celeriac, place on top of a cutting board and cut the skin off slicing downwards using a sharp knife). Then make celeriac shavings using a vegetable peeler (or slice it thinly into strips using a knife).

Step-by-step recipe instructions

1.Preheat the oven to 425 F/ 220 C/ gas mark 7. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the celery root shavings in a large bowl, add 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, season lightly and stir thoroughly until evenly coated (best to use your hands to do this).   

2. Spread on top of the baking sheet as evenly as you can.  Roast in the centre of the oven for 17 minutes turning over half way through.

3. Remove the celery root shavings from the oven and set aside to cool a little (optional) before combining with the rest of the ingredients. 

4. Toast the pecans, core the apple and slice thinly. To assemble the salad spread the arugula on top of a large plate and scatter the roasted celery root, apple, pecans and mint over the top. 

5. In a small bowl combine the remaining oil and maple syrup with the lemon juice and drizzle over the salad. Season to taste and enjoy!

Serving suggestions

This celeriac salad is perfect on its own or with crusty bread and butter. It's also delicious served with pork, turkey or chicken dishes. 

Try adding a couple of tablespoons of cooked pearl barley, green lentils, rice or quinoa for a light meal idea. 

Substitutions

• Vegetable oil: Substitute for mild tasting olive oil if preferred.
• Mint: Use fresh basil, parsley or a scatter of thyme leaves instead.
• Arugula: This can be substituted with baby spinach, roughly chopped.
• Maple syrup: Use agave syrup.
• Pecans: Use walnuts instead if preferred.

Top tips and FAQs

• Make the celeriac shavings using a vegetable peeler or slice the celeriac very thinly using a sharp knife.
• Roasting celery root shavings softens them without making them dry.
• Core and cut the apple just before assembling the salad as it is prone to discoloration. 
• You can, but don't have to, wait for the celeriac to cool before assembling the salad.
• You can prepare the celeriac ahead and once cooled refrigerate, covered, for up to a day.
• Best served immediately.
• Not suitable for freezing.

You might also like

• Roasted Celery Root Puree
• Roasted Pumpkin Pasta with Arugula & Garlic

and

• Roasted Beetroot and Feta Pasta Salad

Keep in touch!

If you've made this roasted celery root salad recipe I'd love to know how it turned out for you.  Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

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