On Monday we shared about one of our favorite ways to save money on produce. We did our order through Bountiful Baskets which has produce co-op sites all over the country – which is awesome for many, many of us frugal people out there!
So this week, we spent $37 for all this produce. $25 for the above pictured (and below close up) for 100% organic produce.
The Organic Black Kale is BEAUTIFUL and we LOVE Kale!
And the only bad part about Bountiful Baskets is that you are not picking out the produce, nor the quality and we did get two oranges with soft, squishy, wet tops and organic oranges that I would never pick out as the have to be eaten now and the top parts cut off. Sometimes that happens, and it is the one bad part!
Then we spent $10.50 for this additional pack that they called the “fondue pack” but we will use it for cooking and eating raw.
Again, the bananas aren’t in great quality and pretty much need to be eaten today – but no worries in this case as they have already been consumed before I could even tell you about it! The kids were standing by the tables patiently waiting for their take at the fresh produce this morning!
We generally love Bountiful Baskets and it is sorta like Christmas morning to see what you are going to get as it is a mystery and forces you to try new foods!
Well, today was nothing short of a mystery. We pulled out this Super-Ugly-Great-Barrier-Reef-like vegetable (as the kids called it since we studied the Great Barrier Reef in our homeschool this week).
None of us have ever seen anything like this. On the bottom, it literally does look like those weird sea creatures that live in the great barrier reef as you imagine these tentacles moving and waiting for it’s next prey. Trust me, I enjoyed sneaking up on our son and scaring him with this mystery creature. It made for a good Saturday morning laugh!
Now it could be something we end up loving….but right now, we don’t know what it is, how to eat it, how to cook it….. nada! Can you help us out? I don’t ever remember seeing anything like this in a grocery store before and we spend a lot of time in the produce sections of the grocery store.
It is obviously a root veggie and kinda reminds us of white beets (much bigger though).
So…….Can you help us identify it and what we can do with it?
amanda
Celery root or celeriac – same thing
Cassie
Thank you Amanda! It is a weird one for sure. We do look forward to giving it a taste test!
Becky
I believe Amanda is correct.
Cassie
I am assuming she (and many others) is too. I looked it up and it does look awfully close. I must say, you should google it – it is a very weird looking veggie. Not exactly appetizing, but hopefully tastes good 🙂 Thanks Becky!
Kayla H
I was thinking celery root too :).
Cassie
It sounds like that is the consensus! Thanks Kayla!
Ruth
I agree with Amanda. Cut off a piece of the skin and sniff it and you’ll know for sure.:-) It doesn’t look quite like rutabaga or turnip.:-)
Cassie
I haven’t done that yet, although I smelled the surface without cutting and absolutely no smell – just a bit of a dirt smell 😉 Thanks Ruth!
Camiele
Definitely looks like celery root to me also. When you cut or peel it, it should smell like celery. You can cut it up into match sticks (or whatever shape you want) and drizzle it with olive oil and bake along with some cut up sweet potatoes. Then sprinkle with some salt when they’re done. They’re quite tasty!
Cassie
Alex loved your idea for preparing and cooking it! It sounds good to me too! Maybe we will have to mash half for the kids and make mock baked fries for the adults! 🙂 Thanks for the idea Camiele!
Michelle
Celery root! Most common way to prepare: Peel, chop into chunks, boil until just tender. Puree and eat OR mix in with mashed potatoes. Delicious and nutritious! It has a more subtle celery flavor.
Cassie
Your suggestion is another one for mashed – it sounds very interesting, but also exciting to try. Thanks Michelle!
Ted S.
Yup, celeriac or celery root.
Cassie
Thank you Ted!
Heather Rauscher
Is it kohlrabi?
Cassie
I looked up Kohlrabi, and it does look like it…but this thing we have is very hard and dirty as if the veggie part is the root (meaning it grew in the ground like a carrot or beet) and not on the surface. But I would have assumed that too! Thanks Heather!
Sara Gillman
It is celeriac, you can boil and mash it like potatoes or roast it. Like any other root/potato type veggie
Cassie
Which way to you think kids would like – I am wondering about mashing it like mashed potatoes. It must soften nicely as it is a hard ol’ root right now…lol! Thank you Sara for the ideas!
Zora
some dutch recipes for celery root:
http://www.okokorecepten.nl/recept/groenten/knolselderij/
http://www.biobudget.nl/recepten/herfsttaartje-met-geroosterde-pompoen-knolselderij-appel-en-salie/
i am using just to make soup, same as carrot.
Cassie
Awesome – thank you so much! I kinda wondered if it was “carrot like!” Thanks again Zora!
brooke
Amazing the difference between the “regular” basket and the organic one… Nada on lettuce this week, or the last few weeks actually. Good luck on the celery root. I LOVE bountiful baskets just because it forces me to eat healthier and try new things!
I too got the fondue pack….would you really use carrots in fondue? Extra veggies for us too 😉
Cassie
LOL – I thought the exact thing about the carrots and the coconut in the fondue pack – although I am not complaining about either as we love them – and were especially excited to receive the coconut, we just won’t be using them for fondue! That is interesting that the conventional baskets haven’t had any lettuce in them recently. We almost always get lettuce – this week two different kinds! Thanks for sharing!
Aubree
Going against the consensus here and saying that it looks a lot more like a jerusalem artichoke than celeriac. I re-googled just to make sure; give it a try and see what you think!
Mary Ellen
looks either like celery root or ginger