Ok, I'm on my celeriac kick (as usual) and I tried doing something besides soup this time and this veggie came thru with flying colours - AGAIN. I made these about a week ago to eat with garlic burgers (no bun though)...and they turned out delicious.

If you aren't sure what "celeriac" is, you may know it as "celery root" or "root celery". Its an underloved, underappreciated, TASTY and versatile veg that keeps very well until you are ready to cook it, has much less starch than potatoes and can be used in almost any way you want, from soups to fries to mash.

So anyways...

I basically used about a tablespoon of organic coconut oil and a tablespoon of butter for the entire recipe and quickly (20 secs or so) melted in a microwave.

(I do not cook with ANY polyunsaturated oils/liquid oils. Its not good for you, or the oil, to be heated. It creates "trans fats" - nasty, horrible things you do not want anywhere near your body. When I need to cook/fry/heat oil I always use butter, ghee, or organic virgin coconut oil...I use olive oil only as a drizzle or added after-the-fact.)

If you wanted to make this vegan I guess all you need to do is use the coconut oil and leave out the butter - then you're good to go, I think! Being one of those carnivore types myself, its not a requirement (butter is loaded with vitamin A and I also love it)...but its an option if it suits you, should taste fine.

Aaanyway...

I chopped some peeled parsnips and celeriac into "french fry" width and shapes, and also VERY briefly blanched the celeriac to make sure they wouldn't be bitter.

Then, I put them into a big baking pan, tossed with the melted butter/oil mixture before seasoning with sea salt, black pepper and some curry powder.

Baked about 25 mins in the oven at uh...well 220 celsius, whatever that is, and voila - even BETTER than potatoes, with more flavor....but virtually the same in terms of texture - and went great with the burger!

In fact the celeriac did better than the parsnips, which got a bit too well done and are slightly sweeter - for the more "potato" taste and texture, celeriac was awesome. I am going to leave out the parsnips next time I think altogether....!

They are GOOD, just as good if not better and more flavourful than potatoes! I did slightly overcook mine (30 minutes I think, was too long) and so they are a bit browner here but the insides were still lovely and fluffy.

Served with the usual ketchup was nice but they were also fantastic with mayonnaise. (Curry and mayo is good together.....whether slightly salty or sweet. It is the base of a very popular chicken salad in Britain called "Coronation Chicken" which has a sweet edge, using fruits as well as the chicken, mayo and spices.