Celeriac
Also commonly referred to as celeriac, this winter vegetable is a member of the Apiaceae family. It’s closely related to parsley, fennel, carrots and parsnips.
Celeriac’s flavor is reminiscent of all its family members rolled into one, with nice underlying notes of celery throughout. It can be enjoyed in both raw and cooked forms. I most commonly use celeriac in pureed soups or shredded and tossed with mixed greens and a robustly flavored salad dressing.
This week I prepared a celeriac, potato and carrot hash brown as the Fix of the Week, below. Very nutritious, celeriac can be used as a potato substitute in many cases.
Grown by several local farmers, celeriac is available at the weekly Saturday Santa Barbara, Tuesday Santa Barbara and Wednesday Solvang farmers’ markets.
Blood orange tangerine juice
This is one of the tastiest citrus based juices you can find, anywhere.
With seasonal fruit grown by Friends Ranches in Ojai, they blend their deep red pigmented blood oranges with sweet seasonal tangerines for an incredible dynamic flavor. Yielding a bright red color, this juice is excellent for enjoying as it comes, to be incorporated into cocktails, used to make reduction sauces, or used in marinades and salad dressings.
It’s an excellent source of vitamin C and folate.
You can find it seasonally at the Saturday Santa Barbara farmers markets. It’s sold in pints, quarts and half gallon quantities. The half gallons are $17 each.
Palestine limes
Your mouth may start to pucker a bit when you hear the word “lime,” but these unique Palestine limes are a sweet lime, absent of the sour notes.
These limes have a rounded physique and bright yellow skin when ripe. You can use these limes in really anything that calls for notes of citrus such as seafood preparations, beverages and salad dressings, or use them to make a marmalade. Very aromatic, they can also be used to make a lemonade that will not require nearly as much sugar since they are naturally sweet.
Grown by Burkdoll Farms, they can be found for a limited time at the Saturday Santa Barbara and Sunday Camino Real farmers’ markets. Price is $3 per pound, or 8 pounds for $20.
