Thanksgiving and Beyond: Roasted Celery Root and Carrots

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

On Thanksgiving morning we participated in the Tree's Greenville Turkey Day 8K for the second year. We both ran our fastest race and set a new PR! :-) Perhaps one of the reasons was because we woke up and it was only 25 degrees outside.. talk about motivation to finish!! So proud of everyone in Greenville who came out to support the race in the cold weather.

Trees Greenville Turkey Day 8K 2013

This Thanksgiving we were very thankful to spend the evening with friends who cook wonderful food! Our friends Adam and Amanda cooked up quite the spread with a bacon smoked turkey, mashed potatoes with poblano cheese, cabbage, green bean casserole, and Brussels sprouts. We were happy to bring a veggie side dish as well as a yummy apple crumble pie (check out the recipe for it here). For the side dish we figured we would try something different by bringing a Roasted Celery Root and Carrots dish from Food Network Magazine.  

This was our first experience cooking with celery root, a decidedly misshapen root ball that looks nothing like its cousin you find in the stores, and were pleasantly surprised when the first cut yielded a strong but familiar celery scent. This non-starchy vegetable is a fun replacement for a typical dish with potatoes, but beware: we had a difficult time finding it at our traditional grocery store, so be sure to check a specialty store such as Whole Foods. 

Check out the recipe below, it was very easy to make!

BLT Foodies: Roasted Celery Root and Carrots

Roasted Celery Root and Carrots
Yield: 8 servings
Adapted from: Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

3 pound celery root (celeriac), peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt (optional)

Directions

1. Heat a rimmed baking sheet on the bottom oven rack and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Toss the celery root with 4 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon thyme and 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (salt optional).
3. Pile celery root onto heavy-duty foil and create a bag by bringing the ends together and crimp closed to seal.
4. Place the foil bag on another baking sheet and roast in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, repeat step #2 with the carrots. Toss the carrots with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon thyme and 1/2 teaspoon paprika in a bowl (salt optional).
6. Spread carrots on the preheated baking sheet and roast until tender for 35 minutes.
7. After the celery root has roasted for 25 minutes, open the foil and spread on the baking sheet to roast another 15 minutes.
8. When done roasting, toss the celery root with the carrots and parsley in a large bowl and serve!

The only down side to not preparing a large Thanksgiving meal is that you typically do not have a fridge full of delicious leftovers. We did, however, have the leftover apple crumble pie and vegetable dish. We decided to pair our leftover Roasted Celery Root and Carrots with some turkey bacon and fried eggs for a yummy Thanksgiving leftover veggie hash! This low carb hash has amazing flavor and you don't have to feel guilty about eating it! It was so good we had it two days in a row.

BLT Foodies: Roasted Celery Root, Carrot and Turkey Bacon Hash

Roasted Celery Root, Carrot and Turkey Bacon Hash

Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 cups Roasted Celery Root and Carrots (see recipe above) 
2 slices Trader Joe's Turkey Bacon
4 eggs
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
Smoked paprika (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
2. Tear the turkey bacon into small pieces and add it to the skillet, brown lightly for about 2-4 minutes.
3. Add the roasted celery root and carrots to the skillet and brown for about 7-10 minutes until bacon is fully cooked and vegetables are crisp.
4. Push the vegetables and bacon to one side of the skillet.
5. Fry 4 eggs over easy in the skillet, and top with smoked paprika and pepper to taste.
6. Serve one cup vegetable mixture with 2 fried eggs on top.
7. Enjoy!!

BLT Foodies: Roasted Celery Root, Carrot and Turkey Bacon Hash

Oh, and Lilly also <3's Carrots...

BLT Foodies: Lilly and her short-lived chew toy

Have a happy and healthy holiday season y'all!

Fig and Oat Bread

It's here!  Finally!  It's fig season in South Carolina.

Homegrown South Carolina Figs: BLTFoodies

Trevor and I got a bit anxious with our gardening this past year, and went ahead and planted a fig tree on a fluke warm weekend in late January.  Unfortunately, our South Carolina spring was not the best, and we had frequent temperatures below 40 degrees.  Despite this unfortunate weather, our fig tree survived!  And we could not be more excited.  

After much research on figs in the upstate Piedmont region of South Carolina, Trevor decided on a celeste fig tree.  Turns out, the celeste fig is known for it's cold hardiness. We sure put that claim to the test this spring!  The tree had buds in early summer, around May-June, and the figs just started to ripen within the past couple of weeks.  Ironically, after trying to convince Trevor to plant a fig tree for over a year, turns out we actually already had 2 fig trees behind the shed in the back yard!  So now with our abundance of figs, I have started to collect fig recipes for us to try this late summer/early fall.   Our celeste figs are decently sweet, and taste sort of like a plum and a strawberry mixed together.   Check out my fig Pinterest board here: http://pinterest.com/BrittanyChinRD/figs/

Our celeste fig tree: BLTFoodies

For our first bunch of figs we picked this labor day weekend, I decided to try this Fig and Oat bread recipe I found from Running to the Kitchen.  I love this recipe because it uses minimal saturated (bad) fat, and also does not have any added sugar!  It is sweet purely from the fresh figs and orange zest, which is perfect!  I made some slight changes to the recipe, but overall found it very easy and tasty.

No Sugar Added Fig and Oat Bread: BLTFoodies

No-Sugar Added Fig and Oat Bread
Yield: 1 loaf, about 8-12 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups almond milk (curdled with a squeeze of lemon juice)*
1 cup chopped fresh figs
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 table spoon Smart Balance spread, melted
oats for topping
*almond milk with a squeeze of lemon juice mimics buttermilk with a lower fat content

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Combine whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, oats, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3.  Make a hole in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the almond milk
4.  Loosely combine with a wooden spoon.
5.  Add chopped figs, orange zest and walnuts.  Fold in carefully with a wooden spoon.
6.  Once dough starts to form, transfer to a floured wood cutting board and gently combine until the dough forms a ball.  (Be careful of pushing on the dough too hard and smashing the figs)
7.  Spray a baking sheet with olive oil, and transfer the ball of dough onto the baking sheet. Make an "X" in the middle of the dough with a knife for added style.
8.  Brush the top of the dough with the melted Smart Balance spread, and sprinkle the oats on top of the bread.
9.  Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean, and top is golden brown.
10.  Serve warm with Smart Balance spread and local honey, or by itself.  Enjoy!

With the leftover meat of the orange, we decided to use our grapefruit mint and make Orange Mint Water!  Simply cut up the 1 orange you used for the zest in the Fig and Oat Bread recipe, and squeeze into a large pitcher.  Add the leaves off of 3-4 springs of fresh grapefruit mint.  Add water to the pitcher, stir and let sit for 30-60 minutes for flavors to infuse.   Serve in a perfectly southern mason jar!

Orange and Mint Water: BLTFoodies

For our next fig recipe, we really would like to use our dehydrator to dry the figs and use them as an appetizer with some brie cheese and local honey similar to this recipe .  Check back to see how it goes!  

If you have any fig recipes you think we should try, please leave the info in the comments below!

Until next time,
BLT