The Wallflower of the Root World

Celeriac is one of the most overlooked vegetables. Also known as celery root (it’s not the root of ordinary celery, but of a variety grown especially for the root), it is certainly ugly. But the French have always appreciated its virtues, and for years all good French restaurants had celery root remoulade on the hors d’oeuvre platter. Probably, they still do.

I have a favorite casserole of root vegetables, suitable either as a main course or as a side dish with roasted meat. Celeriac is what makes it work. Once or twice I have left the celery root out, and the other vegetables tasted bland.

You can make another wonderful dish by peeling and slicing potatoes and celery root, layering the slices in a baking dish, adding seasonings to taste, dotting with butter and adding enough water or chicken broth to barely cover. Then bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes.

A perfect dessert to serve with thrifty root vegetables (or cellar vegetables, as they were once called when almost everyone had a cool cellar for storing vegetables during the winter) is Ohio lemon pie. It’s another gift from the early American Shakers, who created wonderful dishes from the plainest ingredients. The filling is nothing more than lemons, sugar and eggs transformed into a triumph of ingenuity.

The secret to making this pie is to cut the lemon paper-thin, mix the slices with sugar and let them stand at least five to six hours. Additional sugar should be sprinkled over the lemon slices when arranging in the pie shell--it will make the pie juicy.

CELERIAC AND ROOT VEGETABLES

1 turnip, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

1 russet potato, peeled and diced

2 cups peeled and diced celery root

1 onion, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

Ground pepper

1/4 cup butter

Place turnip, potato, celery root, onion, carrots and parsley into 2-quart casserole.

Blend chicken broth and cornstarch in small mixing bowl. Pour over vegetables. Mix well. Add salt. Season to taste with pepper. Mix to blend. Dot top of vegetables with butter.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Serve hot. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

148 calories; 683 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 1.47 grams fiber.

OHIO LEMON PIE

2 lemons

2 cups sugar

Pastry for 8-inch double-crust pie

4 eggs

Slice lemons paper-thin, peel and all. Place in bowl with 1 1/2 cups sugar. Mix well. Let stand 4 hours or overnight.

Line 8-inch pie plate with pastry. In bowl beat 4 eggs together until well mixed. Arrange slices of sugared lemon in layers in unbaked pie shell, spreading remaining 1/2 cup sugar between each layer. Pour beaten eggs over lemons. Put on top crust. Cut vents to let out steam.

Bake at 450 degrees 15 minutes, turn heat down to 400 degrees and bake until tip of knife comes out clean when inserted into center of pie, about 20 more minutes. Remove and cool pie and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

652 calories; 241 mg sodium; 142 mg cholesterol; 26 grams fat; 100 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 0.11 gram fiber.

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