Celeriac carrot slaw

Celeriac.  WTF.

I made this tasty salad / slaw as a side for dinner on Sunday (with a main dish of potato pancakes - how's that for a dinner based entirely on grated roots?), but I forgot to take any photos.  Darnit.  But I made it again for lunch today, so I will share the recipe with you now.  I will tell you a secret:  this was much better than expected, even not taking into account the lowered expectations for a salad of grated vegetable roots.

Celeriac is basically the root of the celery plant.  It is a funny little bulb that looks like a really F-ed up potato, but tastes like celery. 

First off, I need to apologize to all the celeriac that went bad in my fridge last winter.  I didn't know what to do with it, and after a few weeks, it became even more shriveled and scary than usual, and I threw it out.  I now see the error of my ways.  (But I'm not entirely alone, there is a whole NPR article on how ugly celeriac is.)

For this recipe, you must first peel the celeriac until all that nasty crap is gone.  Then grate it, which is not very easy.  You also grate two carrots, which is much easier.  (And yes, the bunny got all the extra trimmings this morning.)

For the dressing, you mix mayo (I use olive oil mayo), lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and salt.  Pour over the slaw and devour.

Dave and I both had second helpings of this on Sunday night.  We were both really surprised how much we liked the spicy, savory crunch of the slaw.  I hope it is as good after sitting in the fridge until lunch; something tells me that the flavor will be as good, but the texture of the vegetables will not be as crisp.  Ahh well - what a healthy delicious lunch!  Make it, you won't be sorry.