Apple Celeriac Soup & Bacon-Mushroom Wilted Salad

I put 3 TBSP of butter in my sauce pan and added 1/2 of a medium onion, diced into small pieces. I also added 1/4 of a jalapeño, minced. I let them cook until tender – about 10 minutes. Meanwhile I peeled and cut a celeriac into 1 inch cubes. Tossing them in with the onions and chili, I added just enough water to cover them and put a lid on and let them simmer for 20 minutes.  I peeled and cut 2 apples into 1 inch cubes and set aside.  About 10 minutes before serving, I added the apples and put the lid back on. Right before serving, I pureed everything and poured some of the puree into a bowl. The flavor is bright and tart, very fresh and tasty. I found myself finger-licking the container I pureed it in.

For the salad, I cut 2 slices of bacon into small pieces and put in a medium skillet to cook. I diced 1/4 of an onion and added that. After 10 minutes, I added 2 chopped mushrooms and let it cook another 5 minutes. While that was cooking, I chopped up 3 leaves of romaine and put it on a plate to wait for the dressing to be done.  I rolled a lemon on the counter to soften it up, cut it in half and squeeze both halves into the pan, swirled everything around and poured it onto the lettuce and served immediately. The faster the better, because the contrast between the hot salad dressing and the crisp, cool romaine is part of the magic. Adding some garlic in when you add the onions makes it even tastier, but for some reason I completely forgot the garlic – but it was still yummy.

Advertisement