Celeriac is such a versatile veg. You can roast it, pan fry it, make it into soup or serve it raw like this salad recipe. Having grown up in South Africa I had never heard of it until I arrived in the UK and now I’m slightly obsessed with celeriac. It’s got such a fresh taste and this recipe is amazing with roast meats such as chicken or pork. Chopping into matchsticks can be tedious but it’s worth it, to save time you can use a mandolin slicer.

Try it with my crumbed baked chicken or my lemon, garlic and herb chicken thighs.

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients:

• Half a large celeriac, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
• 1/2 a red onion, finely sliced and soaked in a bit of water with a pinch of salt for 20 mins to sweeten up a bit more (I used a white onion this time but red is far sweeter and looks good against the white celeriac)
• 4 tbsp low fat Greek yoghurt
• 2 tbsp good quality mayo
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp horseradish
• 1 apple, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
• 1 ripe pear, peeled and sliced into matchsticks, (you can also use just apples or just pears)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the wet ingredients together to make a dressing
2. Slice the apple and pear into matchsticks and add to the dressing so that the fruit doesn’t discolour
3. Slice the celeriac into similar sized matchstick pieces, if it starts to go brown then squirt some lemon juice over it
4. When all the slicing is complete, mix in to the dressing and serve immediately as a starter or served with some grilled meat.