celery root and carrot salad with apple - raw, shredded, AIP elimination-compliant

Celery root looks like something you would leave in the produce bin, rough-skinned, oddly shaped, easy to walk past. Peel it once and you will understand why people keep coming back to it: clean, mild, all the celery flavor with none of the strings. This salad needs no stove at all, which matters on the days when standing at one for even 20 minutes feels like more than you have.

Celery root, carrot, and apple, all shredded raw, hold onto a kind of fiber your body cannot break down on its own and hands over to the bacteria living in your gut instead, the ones doing quiet work toward a calmer, more settled system. Eating these vegetables raw rather than cooked keeps more of that fiber intact for the trip.

Dress it, let it sit for 10 minutes so the apple softens slightly, and eat it straight from the bowl if that is as much ceremony as today has room for. Some meals do not need beauty added on top. This one already has it, in the color alone.

Ingredients

For the dressing:

• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp anchovy paste (AIP-compliant brand; olive oil brine, no added spices)
• 1/3 cup avocado oil

For the salad:

• 1 medium celery root, cleaned and peeled
• 1 large carrot, peeled
• 1 tart green apple (such as Granny Smith), peeled and cored
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced (green tops only for lower-FODMAP)
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped (optional)

*Dijon mustard omitted - mustard is a seed-spice and not AIP-compliant.*

Method

Make the dressing first so it is ready when you need it. Whisk together the lemon juice, honey, salt, and anchovy paste until the salt dissolves and the anchovy paste breaks down into the liquid. Pour in the avocado oil in a thin, steady stream while whisking continuously, until the dressing comes together into a loose emulsion. Taste and adjust salt or lemon. Set aside.

Shred the celery root using the large holes of a box grater or the shredding disc of a food processor. Work quickly - celery root can discolor when exposed to air for more than a few minutes. Transfer to a large bowl immediately.

Shred the carrot the same way and add it to the bowl. Shred the apple next and add it as well, tossing everything together so the apple mixes with the other vegetables and slows any browning.

Add the green onions and parsley if using. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss thoroughly until everything is evenly coated.

Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. The salad softens slightly as it sits and the flavors deepen, which many people prefer to the just-dressed version.

*Adapted from gutsybynature.com*